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Century Mayoral Candidate Receives Zero Votes

Felic Fussner had hoped he would be the next mayor of Century, leading the town through an important recovery period following last February’s devastating tornado. Instead, he’s the guy in the four-way race that received zero votes. That’s right, no one voted for Felic Fussner in Tuesday’s primary election or during early voting, or by mail.

“I’ve never heard of a candidate receiving no votes,” Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford, who has held his position since 2005, said.

But Fussner said he was not exactly surprised that he received he none of the 333 votes cast in the mayor’s race.

“I figured as much,” Fussner said Wednesday morning. “The people considered me an outsider.”

Of course zero votes does raise the question — Did Felic J. Fussner vote for himself? Well, that answer is no, and that raises another set of questions.

Fussner’s Front Street home was at ground zero during the EF-3 tornado six months ago, picked up and moved several feet off of its foundation. He found another residence outside Century to call home as a result, but continued his campaign.

“The tornado moved my precinct, and my name was not on my ballot,” he said, making him unable to vote at all in the race.

So if Fussner moved, temporarily or permanently, was he even eligible to seek the office of Century mayor? The town charter says a mayoral candidate must live in the town at least six months prior to the date he qualified to run for office. But there is historical precedence governing candidates that might be displaced temporarily due to a natural disaster like the February 5 tornado, Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez said.

She said the issue of Fussner’s residency was discussed, and the town’s attorney said the town council would hold  the ultimate decision making power. But by the time the clerk was instructed to take the issue to the council, ballots were already printed with Fussner’s name.

Without a determination to the contrary by the Century Town Council, Fussner was still on the ballot come primary day. And he still received no votes.

A candidate receiving no votes is so unusual, Stafford took extra steps Tuesday night to make sure nothing had gone wrong with the electronic totals. The physical paper ballots were escorted by an Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy to the downtown elections office where a security seal was broken and the Canvassing Board conducted a hand audit of the paper ballots. Still no votes for Felic Fussner.

Fussner’s work on his campaign was all grassroots. According to his campaign finance reports, he did not purchase political signs, billboards or advertisements in the local media like the other candidates. His campaign was face to face.

Now that he lost his bid to be mayor in a big way, Fussner is back at work hoping to help Century rebuild following the tornado as a Florida Recovery Team construction manager.

And while he really can’t promise any votes, Fussner is offering his endorsement to Henry Hawkins, a former council member that is seeking to to oust incumbent Freddie McCall during a November runoff.

“I spoke to him (Hawkins) at length, and I believe he could do a good job. I believe he can get things going on tornado recovery,” he said.