By Kyle LoJacono
Some 235,000 voters in Hillsborough and Pasco counties cast their ballots last week in primary elections, setting up November contests and, in some cases, deciding the winners.
Turnout was low on both sides of County Line Road, with 27 percent in Hillsborough and less than 19 percent in Pasco, where Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley was expecting 20-25 percent. Bad weather was a major reason for low poll traffic.
“A colleague of mine said to me, in this county, weather unfortunately affects the outcome,” Corley said. “In other countries people will dodge bullets to vote, while here people won’t dodge raindrops. Still, thousands of people went out and did their civic duty.”
The unofficial number of early votes set a record for Pasco during a midterm primary with 10,338. That is a 64 percent increase from the 6,638 who voted early in 2006. In addition, 10,022 absentee ballots were cast and 33,767 voted on election day.
In Hillsborough, the early voting turnout was 24,161, a bit short of the 2006 record of 25,326.
Beyond the big-ticket races for governor and U.S. Senate, here is a look at some of the local races down the ballot.
STATE SENATE DISTRICT 12
One of the more bitter races this primary election was between Republicans Jim Norman and Kevin Ambler. Norman, 56, won the battle with 56 percent of the vote.
Norman and Ambler were both running for the state Senate for the first time. Norman is in his 18th year on the Hillsborough County Commission. Ambler is completing his fourth term in the state House.
District 12 covers Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Odessa, Northdale, New Tampa, North Tampa, Dade City, St. Leo, San Antonio, Wesley Chapel and Grower’s Corner. No Democrats applied to run in the November midterm, so Norman will face two write-in candidates, Derek Crabb and Kimberly Renspie.
FLORIDA’S FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent, 59, was tapped as the Republican candidate for Florida’s fifth Congressional District. He received 68 percent of the vote in his race against Jason Sager, who earned 32 percent.
Democrat Jim Piccillo will appose Nugent in the midterm.
The fifth district covers all of central and east Pasco and much of Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Levy, Marion, Sumter and Polk counties. It is the largest in Florida and the seventh largest in the country, according to the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Nugent said he planned on retiring after his term as sheriff was completed, but decided to run after the district’s current representative, Ginny Brown-Waite, asked him to five months ago. Brown-Waite previously said she is not running because of health concerns. She did not make the announcement until minutes before the deadline to apply for the election.
FLORIDA’S NINTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Anita de Palma took 59 percent of the vote and will represent Democrats in the race for Florida’s Ninth Congressional District in November. She will face incumbent Republican Gus Bilirakis. The ninth district covers all of Hillsborough Lutz, Hillsborough Odessa, New Tampa, Keystone and portions of north Pinellas, west Pasco and eastern Hillsborough counties.
STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 60
The only area race that included both parties was for state House District 60, which covers all of northwest Hillsborough.
Russ Patterson took 72 percent of the vote against Christopher Cano to represent the Democrats. Shawn Harrison, who took 59 percent of the vote in the race against Trey Stroud, will represent Republicans.
STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 61
The Republican nomination for State House District 61 was decided early, with Will Weatherford taking 80 percent of the vote against Kevin Wright. The district covers all Land O’ Lakes, Pasco Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City, San Antonio, New Tampa and much of Odessa.
“I was honored to receive 80 percent of the vote,” Weatherford said. “Hopefully it means the community believes in the same things I do. What I’m most concerned with right now is getting the economy back on track in the area.”
Weatherford will face off against political newcomer and Wesley Chapel resident Elena McCullough, a Democrat, in the general election. Weatherford, 30, is in line to become the youngest speaker of the state House since 1957. He would also be the first speaker from Pasco since 1893.
“I’ve always believed there are two kinds of people who get into politics,” Weatherford said. “People who want to be something and people who want to do things. I want to do things, mainly creating jobs and making a more economical viable place for people to live.”
Weatherford has run successful in the district the last two terms, which are two years long.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY COMMISSION
Three newcomers and one incumbent were picked by their parties for the November election for the Hillsborough County Commission.
Victor Crist will represent District 2 for Republicans. He received 65 percent of the vote to defeat Linda Pearson. District 2 covers most of north Hillsborough, including Lutz, Odessa and New Tampa. Crist will face Steven Morris, who is not affiliated with a party, in November.
Also winning their primaries for the commission are:
(Bullets)
Sandra Murman, county District 1, Republican
Les Miller, county District 3, Democrat
Mark Sharpe, county District 7, Republican incumbent
PASCO COUNTY COMMISSION
Current commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri won the Republican nomination for the Pasco District 2 seat in a tight race against Ken Littlefield. The district covers Land O’ Lakes, most of Wesley Chapel, Grower’s Corner and Shady Hills.
Mulieri, who was first elected to the commission in 1994, took 52 percent of the vote.
“My first thought was a win is a win,” Mulieri said about the close victory. “Only 30,000 Republicans voted out of 100,000 registered.”
Mulieri will be opposed in November’s midterm by Clay Colson, of Land O’ Lakes, who is a registered Democrat but will run without a party affiliation. Commissioners serve for four years.
While the vote was tight, Mulieri feels confident she will be able to garner enough support to win in November.
“I will continue to ask for republican support,” Mulieri said. “The primary fell during an extremely busy time. My emphasis had to be on the budget cycle and moving Pasco into the future. I did not have the time to visit the many Republican clubs, but hopefully I will be able to reach out more to these clubs in the future.”
Mulieri said her plans are to continue to make Pasco a place people can live, work and play. She said the best way to do that is encourage job growth and economic development.
Also in an election period full of negative ads, Mulieri said she decided against that method.
“Someone commented ‘I received eight flyers and yours was the only one that was all positive,’” Mulieri said. “It was suggested that I should do a negative piece against my opponent. My response was a loud and clear no … I would rather lose then go negative.”
HILLSBOROUGH SCHOOL BOARD
Candy Olson will not have to win a runoff election in November because such a large number of voters selected her. She took more than 50 percent of the vote, which gives her the District 2 seat on the board.
Both Districts 4 and 6 will have runoff elections between Richard Bartels and Stacy White and between April Griffin and Sally Harris, respectively. School board candidates run without part affiliation.
PASCO SCHOOL BOARD
No school board candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the three seats up for election, so the top two vote getters in each district will face each other in a runoff election in November. Mike Ryan and Cynthia Armstrong topped District 3, Alison Crumbley and Karen King led for District 4 and Steve Luikart and Mark Swartsel were the top two for District 5.
School board members represent specific areas, but make decisions for the entire county.
RECAP
Corley said things went about as smoothly as possible during the primary.
“I wish we had a higher turnout,” Corley said. “I always tell people they can’t complain if they don’t vote, but a lot of people still voted and we didn’t have any major issues. Overall the process went very well.”
The midterm election is Nov. 2, with early voting available during the two weeks prior.
Reach Kyle LoJacono at .
