Driver Seriously Injured In Highway 97 Crash
November 5, 2014
A Walnut Hill woman was seriously injured in a two vehicle crash on Highway 97 in Molino Wednesday morning.
The accident happened about 8:40 a.m. in the 1200 block of Highway 97, about a mile north of Molino Park Elementary School. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 69-year old Annette Williams of Walnut Hill was southbound on Highway 97 in a 2003 Ford Explorer when she drove off the road into a dirt driveway and began to make a U-turn in order to head north.
She failed to see a southbound 1993 Dodge W-150 pickup driven by 29-year old Gregory Perritt of McDavid. The front of the pickup collided with the driver’s side of the Explorer.
Williams was trapped in her vehicle for a short time until firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free her. She was airlifted by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in serious condition. Her passenger, 42-year old Anthony Williams of McDavid, and Perritt were treated on the scene. for minor injuries.
The accident shut down Highway 97 in both directions for over an hour.
Annette Williams was cited for making an improper U-turn and no seat belt.
The Molino, McDavid, Century and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the crash, along with Escambia County EMS.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Voters Approve Escambia County Penny, Half-Cent School Tax Extensions
November 5, 2014
Voters in Escambia County easily approved the extension to two sales taxes for the county and the school district.
The Local Option Sales Tax — commonly known as LOST – is a penny tax that benefits Escambia County. It passed with 64.77 percent of Escambia County voters in favor. The current tax does not expire until 2017 and will now be extended through December 28, 2028. Proceeds provide for law enforcement, fire and public safety facilities and equipment, transportation and drainage improvements, infrastructure projects, public facilities,recreation and natural resources, jail and court facilities, Growth Management Act mandates, capital equipment community services, and economic development projects.
The half-cent sales tax for the Escambia County School District passed with the approval of 69.47 percent of Escambia County voters. Funds from the half-penny are used to fund the construction of new schools (such as the new Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill), renovations, additions to existing schools, land acquisition and improvements, and school technology. With the vote, the tax was extended until January 1, 2018.
The Escambia County School District has an ambitious $80 million plan in the works that would move West Florida High School, build a new middle school and construct two elementary schools with the half-cent funds.
Under the plan, students from Woodham Middle School would be moved to a newly constructed campus somewhere on the northwest side of Pensacola. With zoning changes,the new school would also be used to relieve overcrowding at Ransom Middle School. The current Woodham Middle facility would be renovated and house West Florida High School, providing the school with improved athletic facilities including a stadium and field house. Brown Barge Middle School students would be relocated to the current West Florida High campus.
Overcrowding at Helen Caro and Blue Angels elementary schools would be alleviated by constructing a new elementary school in southwestern Escambia County, and new elementary school would be constructed to eliminate overcrowding at Pine Meadow and Beulah elementary schools.
The proposals are still in the planning stages and must receive final approval from the Escambia County School Board.
Pictured: Construction work Tuesday on the new Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, which was funded by a half-cent sales tax for Escambia County School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Scott Wins Second Term As Florida Governor After Ugly, Expensive Campaign
November 5, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott narrowly won re-election Tuesday in one of the nastiest and most expensive governor’s races in Florida history, completing a political resurrection that many observers thought almost impossible a year and a half ago.
With all the state’s precincts reporting, Scott claimed 48.2 percent of the vote, to just shy of 47 percent for former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican turned Democrat. Libertarian Adrian Wyllie claimed almost 3.8 percent of the vote, far below what many polls had shown before the election. Scott beat Crist by fewer than 76,000 votes out of more than 5.9 million cast.
Scott wrapped up his campaign at his Pensacola victory headquarters late Tuesday afternoon, spending about half an hour shaking hands and posing for photos.
“We have made great strides in the last four years, but we cannot rest on our laurels,” Scott told cheering supporters at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs. “Now is the time to charge boldly ahead.”
The race was yet another example of Scott confounding political observers who expected him to lose a race. In 2010, then-Attorney General Bill McCollum was favored to beat Scott in the Republican primary election, and then-Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink appeared at one point to be ahead in the general election. Instead, both lost.
This time, Scott was facing a charismatic former governor who enjoyed high approval ratings during his four years in the state’s top job. Crist, who bolted the Republican Party in 2010 and become an independent to avoid losing a GOP primary for U.S. Senate, easily won the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary and hammered Scott as a plutocrat out of touch with everyday Floridians.
But in a two-and-a-half minute concession speech Tuesday, Crist called for unity. Joined by his wife, Carole, running mate Annette Taddeo and her husband Eric Goldstein, Crist took the stage in a nearly empty ballroom at the Vinoy Renaissance resort in St. Petersburg shortly before midnight.
Crist was interrupted when he said he had called Scott and congratulated him. “Demand a recount!” a supporter cried out.
“We need to come together. We really do,” Crist said.
A Crist aide said the former governor had a 35-second conversation with Scott in which Crist mentioned the expansion of Medicaid, one of his top campaign issues.
“I know we had a lot of differences in this race,” Crist said. “That was pretty clear. But one thing that we talked about that was common ground was to expand Medicaid for about a million of our fellow Floridians.”
Scott also talked of the need to bring the state together after a brutal campaign that featured about $100 million in advertising, much of it harshly negative and often personal.
“It’s time to put all the division behind us and come together,” Scott said. “Forget about all the partisanship. Florida is on a mission. And that mission is to keep growing, and to become the very best place in the world to get a job, to raise a family, and live the American dream.”
Much of Scott’s margin in the race came from racking up big victories in small and medium-sized counties. He carried just three counties where more than 200,000 votes were cast, compared to six for Crist.
The Scott victory brings to an end a brutal and unique campaign between two governors. While the candidates traded the usual charges and countercharges of an election, the fight between Crist and Scott seemed unusually intense.
Scott always addressed Crist by his first name in debates, and pro-Scott commercials slammed Crist as a “lousy governor.” Crist blasted Scott for the latter’s conservative record, complaining in a book written before the election of everything from Scott’s decision to reject federal support for high-speed rail to his removal of Crist’s personal barber from a state board.
Scott and his supporters relentlessly attacked Crist as a flip-flopper who can’t be trusted and who drove the state into an economic meltdown before Scott took office four years ago.
Crist, who previously ran statewide as a Republican three times and as an independent once, painted Scott as a wealthy Republican who, like others in the party, is out of touch with everyday Floridians.
Crist and his supporters also tried to capitalize on Scott’s tenure as chief executive of Columbia/HCA, a hospital corporation that paid more than $1 billion in fines to the federal government for Medicare fraud, the largest fine in the nation’s history at the time.
Crist’s campaign banked on an intensive ground game, shepherded by staffers who helped President Barack Obama nail down victories in 2008 and 2012 in swing-state Florida, to reverse the typically lackluster Democratic turnout in mid-term elections like this year.
Crist enlisted Taddeo, who was raised in Colombia and is a former county chairwoman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, as his running-mate with an eye on drumming up support from women and Hispanics, two demographics considered critical for a win in Florida.
And Crist also focused on black voters, who, like Hispanics, tend to vote in huge numbers during presidential elections and who played a large role in Obama’s Florida victories in the past two elections, but whose turnout drops off significantly in mid-terms.
Scott remained focused during the campaign on themes such as bringing jobs to the state.
After a difficult first year in office that saw his approval ratings at near-historic lows, Scott tried to broaden his appeal, focusing on politically popular issues such as increases in education funding — after slashing school spending in his first budget. He also supported a bill this year that grants in-state college tuition rates to some undocumented immigrants.
He also used a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office caused by the resignation of Jennifer Carroll to appoint former lawmaker Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a Republican who became Miami-Dade County property appraiser after leaving the House. Lopez-Cantera is the first Latino to hold the lieutenant-governor post in Florida’s history.
Crist’s loss Tuesday night may mark the end of his political career just six years after he was considered for the Republican nomination for the vice presidency.
“Thank you, all of you in this room and all of you across Florida who helped us in this effort,” he said. “I will never forget you. I will always be in debt to you. You are the most wonderful friends a person could ever hope for.”
by Brandon Larrabee and Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Rick Scott addresses the press at his Pensacola victory headquarters late Tuesday afternoon as he wrapped up his campaign. Pictured top inset: Scott visits with a family in Pensacola. Pictured bottom inset: Scott poses for a photo with Northview High School student Mitchell Singleton. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bondi Outpaces Two Challengers To Win Second Term
November 5, 2014
Attorney General Pam Bondi had little problem overcoming a steady stream of low key attacks over her management of the office, and won a second four-year term Tuesday.
Bondi, who raised more than twice the money as her competitors and hasn’t been shy about standing with Gov. Rick Scott this past week, overwhelmingly defeated vastly outspent Democrat George Sheldon and Libertarian Bill Wohlsifer on Tuesday.
Bondi, who four years ago rode a Republican wave into the statewide office, has dismissed most of the criticism of her office while telling voters she has cracked down on pill mills and been tough in the fight against synthetic drugs and human trafficking.
In her victory speech Bondi declared “I will remain committed to securing the safety and well-being of every Floridian.”
She campaigned Monday in Tampa with former Gov. Jeb Bush and was celebrating Tuesday evening in Tampa.
Unofficial numbers had Bondi up about 15 percentage points on Sheldon, with Wohlsifer garnering less than 3 percent of the vote.
Sheldon, 67, a former state lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully for education commissioner in 2000, has tried to portray Bondi, a 48-year-old former assistant state attorney from Hillsborough County, as too tied to the ideological right wing of the Republican Party in, and too close to Scott and corporate lobbyists.
But without resources, Sheldon hasn’t able to get a sustained message out to the state’s 10 media markets.
After voting Tuesday morning in Tallahassee, Sheldon told reporters he was proud of his campaign and that the race was “now in the hands of the voters.”
“I’ve tried to stay true to the principles that I’ve tried to stay true to my whole life,” Sheldon said. “And I think we’ve clearly laid out the differences between the attorney general and myself.”
Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant said in a release that Sheldon “made every Florida Democrat proud.
“George stood strong for equal rights, for ratepayers, for consumers — and for returning the office of Attorney General to the people,” Tant said.
Four years ago Bondi won a narrow three-way Republican primary before topping Democrat Dave Aronberg by 18 points.
Bondi, who appeared at numerous campaign stops with her 175-pound St. Bernard, Luke, also commands a substantial advantage in name recognition as a frequent guest on cable news and for helping head the legal battle against the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Bondi raised $2.29 million, including $325,905 in state matching funds, while also getting more than $1.4 million through in-kind assistance mostly from the Republican Party of Florida for campaign costs such as staffing and travel.
Sheldon drew $855,037 in contributions, of which $275,215 was in state matching funds.
Among the Democratic challengers to state Cabinet seats, all three of which are held by Republicans, Sheldon was the only one to receive state matching funds, which are calculated based on contributions of $250 or less that campaigns receive from state residents.
Wohlsifer, 60, an attorney from Tallahassee, raised $23,178 and loaned his campaign $6,755.
The relatively low-key nature of the race has allowed Bondi to sidestep some of her opponents’ biggest criticisms, which include Bondi getting Scott to delay an execution last year because it was scheduled for the same day as her campaign kickoff.
Any shots aimed at Bondi during the campaign’s lone debate garnered little attention as the one-hour event was televised only in the Tampa and Orlando markets.
Sheldon’s lack of money also often limited his campaigning mostly to Tallahassee and Tampa, where he argued that Bondi has failed Floridians through her opposition to same-sex marriage, medical marijuana, automatic restoration of rights for felons and the Affordable Care Act, while doing little to assist utility ratepayers.
Sheldon also tried to score points in the final days of the race by calling attention to a New York Times report last week that focused on the ties between corporate lobbyists and attorneys general. Bondi was prominently featured in the Times report.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Florida Medical Marijuana Proposal Falls Short
November 5, 2014
Little more than three months ago, Floridians appeared poised to overwhelmingly pass a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana.
But Tuesday, after a barrage of negative ads by opponents, the idea came crashing down.
As of 11 p.m., 57.5 percent of voters backed the proposed amendment — known as Amendment 2 — that would have allowed patients to receive the substance. But constitutional amendments require approval from 60 percent of voters to pass.
“This amendment, had it been ingrained in the constitution, would have been very bad for Florida,” said Sarah Bascom, a spokeswoman for “Vote No on 2,” a group that fought legalization. “There are no do-overs in the constitution, so the only way to rectify this amendment and to fix this issue was to vote no.”
The pot proposal was one of three constitutional amendments on the ballot Tuesday. Voters easily passed an amendment that will lead to increased funding for land conservation and other environmental projects. They rejected a third amendment that involved the appointment of Supreme Court justices and appeals-court judges.
The medical-marijuana initiative was spearheaded by Orlando attorney John Morgan, who is known throughout the state for his ubiquitous Morgan and Morgan law-firm television ads and billboards.
In July, a Quinnipiac University poll indicated that 88 percent of Floridians — across all age groups — approved of medical marijuana. But support for the proposed amendment later dropped as it was hit with millions of dollars in television ads and opposition from sheriffs, Republican leaders and business groups.
Opponents said the amendment included loopholes that would lead to a wide-open pot industry that would go far beyond helping patients who suffer from debilitating illnesses. The anti-Amendment 2 effort got crucial help from Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who contributed $5.5 million to the Drug Free Florida political committee, which ran ads blasting the proposal.
“Too broad. Too many risks. Vote no on Amendment 2,” said an ad released last week.
But United for Care, a group that led the amendment campaign, said the attacks were aimed at scaring voters and were untrue.
“Amendment 2 will pass this November because Floridians are far more intelligent than the ‘No on 2′ campaign believes,” Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, said last week. “Voters will choose compassion over fear-mongering.”
While the medical-marijuana initiative was highly controversial, the land-conservation amendment drew grumbling from Republican legislative leaders and some business groups but appeared to have no organized opposition. It received about 75 percent of the vote Tuesday.
The proposal, which was Amendment 1 on the ballot, will require the state to dedicate a portion of real-estate tax revenue over the next 20 years for environmental preservation. The proposal will generate billions of dollars from the already-existing tax, with the money going to buy or restore areas crucial to Florida’s water supply, such as the land around springs, and natural systems that have been despoiled, such as the Everglades.
“Clearly the people of Florida care about their environment,” said Allison DeFoor, who chaired the effort to pass the amendment. “We believed that when we started this effort, and we bet everything we had on it. It appears our hope was warranted.”
Supporters argued the measure is necessary because lawmakers in recent years dramatically reduced funding for the Florida Forever conservation program. Republican legislative leaders, however, argued against the amendment because it would force lawmakers to set aside a pot of money every year for conservation and give them less flexibility in how to spend tax dollars.
The third amendment on the ballot was placed there by Republican lawmakers and involved a complicated question about the appointment of future Supreme Court justices and appeals-court judges. It received only about 48 percent support.
The proposal was spurred by the possibility that three Supreme Court justices — Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince — will have to step down in early 2019 because of a mandatory retirement age. They could leave the court at the same time a new governor takes office, depending on the outcome of the 2018 gubernatorial election.
The amendment would allow an outgoing governor — rather than the incoming governor — to appoint the replacements. Supporters said the proposal was needed to avoid a potential constitutional crisis that could emerge if there is a dispute about who holds the appointment power.
But Democrats and other critics argued that the proposal was a power grab by Republican supporters of Gov. Rick Scott, who, if re-elected Tuesday, would leave office in early 2019. In such a scenario, Scott — and not his successor — would be able to fill the Supreme Court openings.
by Jim Saunders and Tom Urban, The News Service of Florida
Complete Escambia County (FL) Election Results
November 5, 2014
Here are unofficial election results from Escambia County, FL.
Complete, but unofficial results show the following local winners:
- School Board Local Option Sales Tax — APPROVED 69.47 %
- Escambia Local Option Sales Tax – APPROVED 64.77 %
- Grover Robinson, Escambia County Commission
- Doug Underhill, Escambia County Commission
- Linda Moultrie, Escambia School Board
- Ashton Hayward, Pensacola mayor
- Sherri Myers, Pensacola City Council
- Brian Spencer, Pensacola City Council
- Thomas Campanella, Santa Rosa Island Authority
70.97 %
64.98 %
55.04 %
65.46 %
54.52 %
65.08 %
34.92 %
Totals included all early votes and absentees.
79 of 79 Precincts Reporting
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS DISTRICT 1
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Jeff Miller | 62,536 | 64.27 % | |
| Jim Bryan | 30,241 | 31.08 % | |
| Mark Wichern | 4,521 | 4.65 % | |
GOVERNOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Rick Scott | 60,580 | 62.02 % | |
| Charlie Crist | 33,319 | 34.11 % | |
| Adrian Wyllie | 2,636 | 2.70 % | |
| Glenn Burkett | 707 | 0.72 % | |
| Farid Khavari | 442 | 0.45 % | |
ATTORNEY GENERAL
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Pam Bondi | 60,824 | 63.00 % | |
| George Sheldon | 32,915 | 34.09 % | |
| Bill Wohlsifer | 2,811 | 2.91 % | |
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Jeff Atwater | 64,017 | 66.95 % | |
| William “Will” Rankin | 31,597 | 33.05 % | |
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Adam Putnam | 61,896 | 65.31 % | |
| Thaddeus Thad Hamilton | 32,879 | 34.69 % | |
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 1
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Clay Ingram | 34,257 | 68.90 % | |
| Gloria Robertson-Wiggins | 15,462 | 31.10 % | |
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Mike Hill | 29,361 | 63.85 % | |
| Jeremy Lau | 16,620 | 36.15 % | |
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 2
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Doug Underhill | 10,622 | 64.98 % | |
| Deb Moore | 5,724 | 35.02 % | |
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DISTRICT 4
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Grover C Robinson | 16,712 | 70.97 % | |
| Michael Alexander Lowery | 6,835 | 29.03 % | |
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL – BENTON (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 54,921 | 63.61 % | |
| NO | 31,416 | 36.39 % | |
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL – LEWIS (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 54,436 | 63.07 % | |
| NO | 31,872 | 36.93 % | |
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL – MAKAR (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 54,096 | 62.85 % | |
| NO | 31,979 | 37.15 % | |
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL – OSTERHAUS (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 53,730 | 62.47 % | |
| NO | 32,280 | 37.53 % | |
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL – ROBERTS (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 54,815 | 63.48 % | |
| NO | 31,533 | 36.52 % | |
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DISTRICT 3 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Linda Moultrie | 7,893 | 55.04 % | |
| Charlie Nichols | 6,448 | 44.96 % | |
MAYOR CITY OF PENSACOLA (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Ashton J. Hayward | 13,417 | 65.46 % | |
| Donna Clark | 7,081 | 34.54 % | |
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Sherri Myers | 1,364 | 54.52 % | |
| Dennis R. Tackett | 1,138 | 45.48 % | |
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 6 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Brian Spencer | 1,657 | 65.08 % | |
| Mark Taylor | 889 | 34.92 % | |
SANTA ROSA ISLAND AUTHORITY (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Thomas Campanella | 724 | 51.90 % | |
| Terry Preston | 671 | 48.10 % | |
AMENDMENT 1 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 68,322 | 72.29 % | |
| NO | 26,186 | 27.71 % | |
AMENDMENT 2 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 57,056 | 58.72 % | |
| NO | 40,116 | 41.28 % | |
AMENDMENT 3 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 49,943 | 53.81 % | |
| NO | 42,875 | 46.19 % | |
SCHOOL BOARD REFERENDUM (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 67,159 | 69.47 % | |
| NO | 29,515 | 30.53 % | |
COUNTY SALES TAX REFERENDUM (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 62,561 | 64.77 % | |
| NO | 34,031 | 35.23 % | |
CITY OF PENSACOLA CHARTER AMENDMENT 1 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 10,550 | 51.75 % | |
| NO | 9,837 | 48.25 % | |
CITY OF PENSACOLA CHARTER AMENDMENT 2 (NON)
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| YES | 15,433 | 75.36 % | |
| NO | 5,047 | 24.64 % | |
CFO Atwater, Ag Boss Putnam Cruise To Elections Wins
November 5, 2014
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater on Tuesday easily defeated a pair of unheralded Democratic challengers who received miniscule backing from their state party.
Both Republican Cabinet members, who far outpaced their challengers in fundraising and have spent part of the past two weeks taking separate bus tours across the state, were showing close to 20 percentage point leads as the early, yet still unofficial, numbers came in.
Putnam, a 40-year-old from a Bartow who spent 10 years in Congress and is widely considered a leading gubernatorial candidate in 2018, dispatched Thaddeus “Thad” Hamilton. Hamilton is a 64-year-old U.S. Army veteran who spent 36 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Meanwhile, Atwater, a 56-year-old banker who served as Senate president in 2009 and 2010, had little problem holding off William Rankin, 54, another U.S. Army veteran who describes himself as an international business consultant.
Putnam said the vote showed voters believed in his priorities.
“We’ve grown Florida’s agriculture industry, safeguarded our residents, fostered academic success for our next generation and honored American veterans,” Putnam said in a prepared statement issued from his election night party in Bartow. “In four years, conservative leadership in Tallahassee cut unemployment in half, paid off $4 billion in debt and put another $3 billion in the bank. We’ve fostered a culture of problem solving that has long been forgotten in places like Washington D.C., New York, Illinois and California.”
Since getting elected agriculture commissioner, Putnam has promoted efforts to battle a disease impacting the citrus industry, as well as non-native species such as the destructive Giant African Land Snail. With his office also overseeing consumer services, Putnam has been involved in efforts such as pushing to rewrite rules to protect consumers from fraudulent and deceptive charities.
Putnam on Twitter had earlier noted he made sure to have lunch Tuesday at Fat Jacks Deli and Pub in Lakeland, his Election Day tradition since 1996.
Even with the lack of competition, Atwater, in a release, said he was “humbled” to receive a second term.
“In this campaign I traveled the state to share a positive vision for the future and a record of accomplishments that protect Floridians from fraud, bring transparency and accountability to state government, and policies that grow our state’s bottom line,” Atwater, who held his election night party at the West Palm Beach Marriott, said in a release. “There is still more that needs to be done, and together we will continue to grow Florida’s economy.”
Like Putnam, Atwater has moved steadily up the ranks of Florida GOP politics. After serving in the House and getting elected to the Senate, Atwater became Senate president and then was elected statewide as chief financial officer. He also is mentioned frequently as a possible candidate for higher office in the future.
As chief financial officer, Atwater has launched efforts to make state contracts more accessible to the public. Also, he has been involved in issues such as questioning why property insurance rates failed to fall in line with a drop in costs for reinsurance, which is a type of backup coverage for insurers.
Putnam’s campaign raised $3.16 million, which included $443,334 in state matching funds. He also received more than $1 million in in-kind donations for campaign staff, polling and research mostly from the Republican Party of Florida. Putnam also raised a combined $814,500 through his two political committees, Sunshine State Leadership Project and SSLP.
Atwater, from North Palm Beach, raised $3.24 million as of Oct. 30 and received $1.1 million through in-kind donations, mostly from the Republican Party of Florida. Atwater’s totals included $413,277 he received in state matching funds.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Santa Rosa Voters Reject Courthouse Sales Tax; Other Santa Rosa Results
November 5, 2014
Santa Rosa County voters rejected a sale tax increase that would have funding a new county courthouse with 56 percent against.
The current Santa Rosa County Courthouse is located in downtown Milton. Built in 1927, the building size is no longer sufficient for all the necessary courthouse functions and the design of the building creates security issues for the public and staff. according to the county. The parking, heating and cooling system, and telephone and computer network infrastructure are also no longer adequate for daily operations. County officials argued that a new facility that could serve the county today, and up to 75 years in the future, was desperately needed.
The one-cent sales tax increase for the courthouse, if passed, would have been limited to five years.
Here are other complete, but unofficial results, from Santa Rosa County:
Santa Rosa County Commissioner Dist. 2
Bob Cole (R / Inc.) 40,694 80%
Wallis Mahute (NPA) 10,114 20%
Santa Rosa County Commissioner Dist. 4
Rob Williamson (R) 40,523 81%
Etta Lawlor (L) 9,602 19%
Santa Rosa School Board Dist. 3
Carol Boston 30,314 64%
Jim Taylor 16,848 36%
Santa Rosa Sales Tax for Courthouse
Against 29,269 56%
For 23,155 44%
Santa Rosa Downtown Milton Courthouse
No 31,652 64%
Yes 17,437 36%
Santa Rosa East Milton Courthouse
No 34,794 72%
Yes 13,462 28%
Santa Rosa Pea Ridge Courthouse
No 37,801 78%
Yes 10,759 22%
Pictured top: A artist conception of a new Santa Rosa County Courthouse. Voters rejected a tax at the polls Tuesday that would have funded construction.
Escambia (AL) Election Results
November 5, 2014
Here are unofficial election results from Escambia County, Alabama:
30 of 31 Precincts Reporting (all ballots but provisional)
Sheriff:
Grover Smith (D): 5304 / 58.2%
Heath Jackson (R): 3807 / 41.8%
Tax Collector
Todd White (D): 4323 / 48.7%
Tim Pettis (R): 4557 / 51.3%
Commission, District 5
David Quarker 882 / 70%
Katrina Wallace 381 30%
State Senate District 22
District-wide totals
Greg Albritton (R): 23099 / 67%
Susan Smith (D): 11,248 / 33%
GOP Grabs Supermajority In Florida House
November 5, 2014
The already-conservative Florida House will lean even more to the right the next two years.
Republicans, as part of a national wave, regained hold of a supermajority Tuesday in the lower chamber.
The party retained two Republican-held seats where it faced serious challenges, while flipping six Democrat-held seats that were heavily contested in the Interstate 4 corridor.
Outgoing House Speaker Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, called the Tuesday night results a “validation of the policies we’ve been fighting for the last several years.”
“This is a great Republican night across the board,” Weatherford said.
The Democrats getting unseated were Rep. Linda Stewart of Orlando, Rep. Joe Saunders of Orlando, Rep. Mike Clelland of Lake Mary, Rep. Karen Castor Dentel of Maitland, Rep. Carl Zimmermann of Palm Harbor, and Rep. Mark Danish of Tampa.
“While this election did not go as I hoped, the voters have spoken,” Stewart said. “I am proud of the positive campaign we ran and I want to thank everyone who made phone calls, knocked on doors, or talked to their neighbors about a positive vision for Orange County. It is my hope Mr. Miller will continue the fight for the values that make Orange County so special.”
After the wins Tuesday, Republicans held 81 of the 120 House seats. As of 11 p.m., the South Florida District 112 seat held by Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, was still undecided. Also, a special election will be held in early 2015 for a Jacksonville seat that has been held by Democrat Reggie Fullwood.
The newly elected GOP lawmakers are former Rep. Scott Plakon of Longwood, Bob Cortes of Altamonte Springs, Mike Miller of Winter Park, Rene “Coach P” Plasencia of Orlando, Shawn Harrison of Tampa, and Chris Sprowls of Tarpon Springs.
Republicans said before Tuesday night’s count that getting back the two-thirds supermajority they enjoyed during the 2010 and 2011 sessions wasn’t as important as retaining its majority and “picking up some competitive seats.”
Tuesday night incoming House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said he was “grateful” voters gave the House Republicans a supermajority
“Over the past four years, Governor Scott’s willingness to make tough choices has reversed the losses we saw under Charlie Crist, leading to a recovering economy, job creation and a record number of visitors to our great state,” Crisafulli said in a release. “I look forward to working with the governor to continue making Florida the best state in the nation.”
Incoming House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, expressed optimism before the polls closed that the minority party had been able to “neutralize what they’ve thrown at our incumbents.”
After the votes were tabulated, he issued a statement saying he looked “forward to working with him (Crisafulli) and the House Republican leadership.”
“We begin with the idea that all of us act in good faith to do what’s best for the people of Florida,” Pafford said in the release. “Democrats will neither hesitate to support good ideas, no matter their origins, nor shy away from opposing bad ideas and offering viable alternatives.”
Democrats retained at least one of the seats that Republicans sought to flip.
Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, fended off a challenge from Republican Bill Young to win another term in Pinellas County’s House District 68.
Young — the son of the late Congressman C.W. Bill Young — issued a statement conceding the race.
“We knew it would be an uphill battle to take on an incumbent in a battleground seat like this, and I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work we put in,” Young said. “My first campaign was a great experience and I’m grateful to the residents of District 68 for giving me this opportunity.”
The supermajority for the next two sessions means it will be tougher for Democrats to have a say in legislation that runs through the House.
In the 2011 and 2012 sessions, when the GOP had a supermajority in both chambers, lawmakers put unions under the microscope — many would say under attack — in a way they haven’t been in years. They also were able to pass contentious bills that tightened restrictions on abortions, strengthened gun rights, created a Medicaid managed-care system and made it harder for people to collect on sinkhole and wind-damage claims.
But just because the Republican dominated both chambers, not everything went smooth, as House and Senate GOP leaders fought throughout both sessions.
by Jim Turner, The News Services of Florida