Primary Election Results Are In For State, Local Candidates

By Matt Wiley

The votes are in for the 2014 Primary Election, which has determined whose names officially will appear on the November ballot in both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.

Coming as little surprise, the Florida Division of Elections reports that former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) will go head-to-head against current Gov. Rick Scott (R-Tallahassee), who is hoping to keep the governor’s seat for another four-year term. Crist won 74.37-percent of the state’s vote against fellow democrat Nan Rich (D-Weston). Gov. Scott steamrolled past opponents Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder (R-Sarasota), who earned just more than 10-percent of the vote and Yinka Abosede Adeshina (R-Tallahassee), who earned just more than one percent of the state’s vote.

Florida voters also had to choose who would appear on the ballot against incumbent Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-Tampa). George Sheldon (D-Tallahassee) defeated Perry E. Thurston (D-Ft. Lauderdale) with 60.66-percent of the vote.

Locally, although New Tampa won’t vote for its specific county commissioner until November when current Dist. 2 Comm. Victor Crist (R-New Tampa) will take on Elizabeth Belcher (D-Seffner), residents did vote for the District 7 seat, which represents the entire county.

According to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office (SEO), Al Higginbotham (R-Plant City) and Patricia “Pat” Kemp (D-Tampa) will battle it out for the countywide Dist. 7 County Commissioner seat. Higginbotham won in a landslide, gathering 66.48-percent of the vote, with his closest opponent Tim Schock gathering only 15.79-percent of the vote. Kemp beat out Mark Nash (D-Brandon) with 65.42-percent of the county’s vote.

Wesley Chapel Winners

Meanwhile, in Wesley Chapel, the Pasco County SEO reports that Mike Moore (R-Wesley Chapel) officially will appear on the November ballot against Erika J. Remsberg (D-Land O’Lakes). Moore received 55.37-percent of the vote to beat out former state Rep. Ken Littlefield (R-Wesley Chapel) and Bob Robertson (R-Zephyrhills) to replace Comm. Pat Mulieri, who is retiring after this term.

“I am humbled by the support our campaign has received from so many people from across Pasco County,” Moore said, following the announcement of the Primary Election results on August 26. “I also deeply appreciate all the volunteers who have worked very hard toward our victory this evening. Now, we look forward to the General Election in November. I’m excited about the opportunity to share our campaign message with even more voters in the coming weeks. We are focused on creating jobs and building a better future here in Pasco County “

A number of 6^th Circuit Court judges also were elected, including Susan St. John, who beat out Laura Snell in Group 1; Alicia Polk beat defeated Ken Lark and Alan Scott Rosenthal in Group 2; Kim Sharpe narrowly defeated Brian Battaglia for Group 16; Phil Matthey beat Amanda Colon in Group 21; and Bruce Boyer defeated Jon Newlon in Group 35.

For the Dist. 5 Pasco County School Board seat, incumbent Steve Luikhart defeated Marc Jay Yacht with 72.2-percent of the vote.

Stay tuned for a detailed precinct-by-precinct review of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel’s voter turnout in future issues. For more info, please visit VoteHillsborough.com and PascoVotes.com.