Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Higginbotham attributed his win to grassroots campaigning and hard-working volunteers.
Only an hour and 45 minutes after the polls closed, District 4 Hillsborough County Commission candidate Mark Nash, D-Lithia, knew he'd lost the race. At a gathering with supporters at the Hilton Garden Inn in Riverview, Nash intently watched the computer as the Supervisor of Elections Office released the precinct totals. Carrying just 38 percent of the vote, Nash conceded to incumbent County Commissioner Al Higginbotham, R-Plant City. "I congratulate Al," said Nash. "It's obvious I don't have the votes." However, Nash stopped short of calling his bid for office a failure. "A lot of good things came out of it. I reconnected with a lot of friends and even relatives," said Nash. Among those supporting Nash was a cousin he didn't know he had …
President Barack Obama has carried Hillsborough County for the second election in a row.
The results are in and Hillsborough County has named its choice for the White House. President Barack Obama has taken the county with 52.63 percent of the vote. A total of 277,432 ballots were cast in Obama’s favor within Hillsborough County. Republican challenger Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 243,323 ballots cast in his favor, which works out to 46.16 percent. A total of 527,169 votes were cast in the presidential race in Hillsborough, according to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Election Office. While Obama won’t gain any precious electoral votes from Hillsborough County alone, he can say he carried the county. In 2008, Hillsborough voters also chose Obama over Republican challenger John McCain. In that race, Obama took 272,…
A familiar face won’t return to service in Hillsborough County while the incumbent sheriff retains his seat and a newcomer takes over as supervisor of elections.
It’s official: Hillsborough County’s slate of constitutional officers has been decided. Former Commissioner and Republican State Sen. Ronda Storms will not return to serve on the county level as the new property appraiser. Instead, Democrat challenger Bob Henriquez will take the seat. Incumbent Sheriff David Gee will serve another four years. And, Democrat Craig Latimer will take over Earl Lennard’s position as supervisor of elections. Here’s how the county voted: Sheriff’s Race Property Appraiser Supervisor of Elections Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by the state of Florida.
The incumbent Democrat will serve another four years.
The results are in and incumbent Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner will serve another four years. The Democrat was first elected to the countywide District 6 seat in 2008. Beckner is the county’s first openly gay commissioner, according to TBO. Beckner’s Republican challenger in the race, Margaret Iuculano, is a foster child advocate. Here’s how the county voted: During his election watch party earlier tonight, it was evident to Beckner and supporters that he would win the race. Even so, Beckner was humble about the victory. “I never take any single vote for granted,” he said. “You always run like you're 20 points behind and never take a single vote for granted." So what’s the incumbent going to focus on in his new term? "I'll…
The results are in and Republican Tom Lee has taken the race for Florida Senate District 24.
Brandon’s Tom Lee has won the race for the Florida Senate seat formerly held by Ronda Storms. Lee faced Democratic challenger Elizabeth Belcher in the general election today for state Senate District 24. Lee garnered 101,967 votes, or 54.10 percent, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Belcher won 45.75 percent of the vote with 86,229 ballots cast in her favor. Lee served as a state senator from 1996-2006 and is the vice president of Sabal Homes of Florida, according to The Tampa Bay Times. Belcher is a retired IRS criminal investigator. Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by the state of Florida.
The incumbent will hold the District 4 seat for another four years.
The results are in and incumbent Republican Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham will serve for another four years. Higginbotham garnered 74,380 votes in the general election, or 58.24 percent of the ballots cast. Democrat Mark Nash took 47,382 votes, or 37.10 percent of the ballots cast. Independent candidate Joy Green rounded out the three-way race. She ended up with 4.67 percent of the vote, or 5,961 ballots cast in her favor. Higginbotham was first elected to the commission in a 2006 special election. Nash is a former aide to Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner. Green is the owner of Rise to the Top Tutoring Co. Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by the state of Florida.
A transformer is to blame for the outage that lasted only a short time.
All systems are go again at the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office’s Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center where power was down for a time today. According to the supervisor of elections Twitter feed, power went down around 4:45 p.m. today, Nov. 6. “A transformer went out,” a Tweet from the SOE’s office said. “Backup generators kicked on. We have resumed printing in-person absentee ballots.” The line outside the 2514 N. Falkenburg Road elections office was about 35 minutes long, officials reported shortly after the outage. Power at the county’s voting precincts was not interrupted during the outage.
Eighteen-year-old Luke Prenatt, accompanied by his entire family, voted for the first time today.
He was as prepared as he could get. He'd listened to the candidates, studied the amendments and filled out the sample ballot. Now 18-year-old Bloomingdale High School student Luke Prenatt of Bloomingdale, accompanied by his entire family, was prepared to vote for the first time. "It's an exciting time," said his father, Marty. "We took him out of school just for the occasion." The Bloomingdale family was relieved to show up at their precinct, First Presbyterian Church of Bloomingdale on Bloomingdale Avenue, and find no lines. Luke's brother, 17-year-old Grant, came along to observe. He'll be voting for the first time next year. "We've emphasized the importance of voting to them both," said Marty. "It's the biggest thing you can do in …
Polls close in Hillsborough County at 7 p.m. Florida's election results could soon follow.
Once you have been to your polling location, or otherwise cast your ballot, you may be wondering when voting results will be announced in Hillsborough County. It's hard to predict exactly when the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections will have all of the county votes in and counted, but here's what we do know: The statewide results for Florida might take a bit longer because portions of the panhandle are in the Central Time Zone and polls will close there at 8 p.m. EST.
Residents waited in long lines outside The Palmetto Club.
Every four years, in the pouring rain or the beating hot sun, you'll find FishHawk Ranch resident Roger Rush waving a large American flag and greeting passersby with "Happy New President's Day" outside The Palmetto Club. It's a commitment the 56-year-old made in 1979 when he nearly lost his life in a water skiing accident. "I woke up from surgery a different person," said Rush. Despite the 175 stitches in his head, Rush said he had a renewed purpose in life. "I'd been an atheist ever since I attended the University of Florida, but something happened to me when I had that accident," he said. "I've been a Christian ever since." And, as a Christian, Rush feels it's his avowed duty to campaign for candidates he believes shares his Christian …
Nicolette Fornasari
9:42 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012
Mr Higginbotham and his wife were such nice people. I am a performer with Cirque Italia and we come across a lot of different people from all over the world. And this man was extremely pleasant to speak to and humble. We were honored to be a part of his party the other night and grateful he came to see our show here in Tampa. I wish him all the best of luck in his position and life. -Nicolette … more ›