Sink, check; Meek, check and bigtime (over weird and unsavory billionaire Jeff Greene); Gelber, check.
(The ones I voted for are in bold.)
Locally, with about 2/3 of the precincts reporting…
Circuit Judges – Group 45: Samantha Ruiz Cohen coasted to victory over incumbent Judge Peter Adrien. This is good.
Circuit Judges: – Group 62: Robert Kuntz seems to be losing big to Monica Gordo; a shame, I think, but not a problem.
County Judges – Group 7: Incumbent Judge Edward Newman (50.6% at this moment, but it's varied) neck and neck with Manuel 'Manny' Alvarez.
County Judges – Group 11: Incumbent Judge Flora Seff seems to have lost to the relatively unqualified but Hispanically-named Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson. I don't think this is good, both because the incumbent didn't deserve to lose and because this (and perhaps the Newman race above, although that is more complex) tends to support the widespread and not-unreasonable belief that a lot of uninformed voters just vote for the judge with a Hispanic name.
School Board District 6: Dr. Kitchka Petrova never had a chance. The only question was how big a margin Raquelita Regaldo would win by. In the last days before the election, her campaign sent me a box with an apple in it containing a note saying “For the apple of your eyes and mine, we must salvage our public education”. The next day it was a small (mini-golf size) pencil and a sharpener (“Salvaging our Public Education from Financial Disaster Require that We Sharpen Our Pencils and Get Back to Basics!”) Education, teachers, apples and pencils, get it? So far the margin is overwhelming, pushing 60% of the total vote. Name recognition and a huge financial advantage.
Charter Amendment Eliminating the Office of County Manager: I supported NO, but suspected Yes would win — voters liking the sound of eliminating a government job. So far Yes is winning 60-40, so I think that's the outcome. Pity.
Home Rule Charter Amendment Authorizing County Commission to Abolish Municipalities of Twenty or Fewer Electors: Everyone was for YES. Winning but only 64-36.
Home Rule Charter Amendment Relating to Franchises: I supported NO, feared Yes would win, but NO is winning 67-32.
The other races I was watching were:
- The Republican gubernatorial slugfest: boring apparatchik Bill McCollum v. crazy dangerous mega-millionaire Rick Scott: with 72% of the votes counted, Scott is ahead 47-43. Wow.
- The Republican primary in FL-25 — how big would the inroads from Republicans nervous about David Rivera be in what seemed his certain majority; and the answer is — only a little, as Rivera has 63% to Crespo's 26% with 55% of the precincts reporting.
- The Democratic primary in FL-25 — how big would Joe Garcia's margin of victory be? So far looks about 3:1.
- The County Commission race in District 8, very near where I live, in which Annette Taddeo was a candidate in a crowded field with some good candidates: so far it's Finn in the lead with Bell the other candidate likely in the runoff. Although Taddeo is only 300 votes behind Bell, that's a lot given light turnout.
I'll update this in the morning if the final totals change anything. The closest races are the GOP primary for Governor, and the nail-biter for County Judges – Group 7
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