The much watched Orange County Commission District 2 and District 6 races, each with six candidates, were whittled down to the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary, with huge margins between the contenders.
Bryan Nelson, a former Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives and term limited from running again in District 31, secured 48.8 percent of the votes cast in the District 2 race, beating back his closest rival Alvin Moore, former Eatonville Town Council member, by a whopping 30 point margin. Having failed to clear the 50 percent hurdle, Nelson will advance and face Moore in a runoff in November’s general election. Political pundits say, this will likely be an easy win for Nelson.
Patricia Rumph, a long-serving Florida Department of Corrections official, received 18 percent of the vote and attorney Greg Jackson didn’t even make it into double digits, picking up 9.6 percent. U.S. Navy Veteran Prince Brown received less than 5 percent.
District 6, the other hotly contested primary saw Victoria Siplin, wife of former State Senator Gary Siplin, scoop up 28.6 percent of the vote to her nearest rival, Derrick “Shine” Wallace’s 20.8 percent. Both Siplin and Wallace will meet in a runoff election in November in what political watchers are already predicting would be a hard-fought campaign.
Meanwhile, MetroPlan’s Director of Regional Partnerships, Virginia Whittington managed to secure 17.8 percent of the vote, with former District 6 Aide, Roberta Walton picking up 15.4%.
Spoilers, former District 6 Commissioner Homer Hartage and Lewanna Gelzer, a community activist and perennial city and county candidate, received nearly 12% and 6%, respectively.
Incumbent District 4 Orange County Commissioner Jennifer Thompson, who faced two other opponents won a decisive victory with 65.7 percent for another 4-year term.
Outgoing District 6 Orange County Commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell, running to become the next Orange County Clerk of Courts, easily defeated James Auffant in the Democratic primary with 69 percent. However, Moore Russell is expected to have a tough fight on her hands when she faces Republican incumbent Eduardo “Eddie” Fernandez in a special election in November.
With three Orange County School Board member positions up for grabs in Tuesday’s primary, teacher Joshua Katz came close to defeating incumbent Jodie Cadle in District 1. Cadle barely eked out a narrow victory with 50.1% to Katz’s 49%.
And in District 2, incumbent Daryl Flynn easily batted away challenger Phil Stump to earn a second term on the School Board.
With four candidates in the District 3 School Board race, not surprisingly, no one garnered more than 50 percent of the vote. The top contenders are Linda Kobert and Regina Hellinger with 44% and 26%, respectively. They will face each other in a November runoff election.
At the state level, incumbent Senator Geraldine Thompson (District 12) easily defeated former State Senator Gary Siplin, securing 64% percent of the vote in the Democratic primary. Thompson will now advance to November’s general election where she will face Republican Edward DeAguilera who trounced Fritz Jackson Selde in today’s Republican primary election. Thompson, who campaigned on protecting schools, the middle class and families, is expected to secure an easy win in November, political observers say.
Also at the state level, in a Democratic primary election for Florida Attorney General, George Sheldon easily defeated Minority Leader Perry Thurston by 22% points, securing 61 percent of the vote. Sheldon, a former member of the Florida House Representatives and more recently acting Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will face Republican incumbent Pam Bondi in November. He will likely attack Bondi from the left on issues such as gay marriage, medical marijuana and Obamacare.
Not surprisingly, former Republican governor Charlie Crist, running as a Democrat to get his old job back, handily beat back Democratic challenger Nan Rich by a whopping 54 percentage points securing 77% of the votes to Rich’s 23 percent. Rich in conceding defeat said she would support Crist now that he is the Democratic nominee.
“I will be out there supporting Charlie Crist, the Democratic nominee,” Rich said. “I’m a true Democrat, and I’ll support the Democrat.”
Crist will face Rick Scott who is seeking a second term, on November 4.
Two ballot initiatives: a proposal to guarantee earned sick time for employees of business in Orange County and a half cent sales surtax for Orange County Public Schools, passed easily, each with 64 percent. However, the passage of the sick time initiative means little, for now, as the Republican-led legislature passed a state law that prohibits sick pay.
Go HERE for more primary election results.
