BREAKING: 2018 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

Posted on November 7, 2018

Murphy outpaces challengers for District 3 commission seat

Republican Sean Andrew Murphy appeared to ride a wave of “red” voting to a surprising upset win in a five-person race for the District 3 county commission seat.

Murphy will represent the Steinhatchee and Beaches area of Taylor County for the next two years as he serves out the remaining two years of the late Commissioner Frank Russell’s current four-year term (2016-20).

With nearly 75% of local votes cast in statewide races going to Republican candidates, Murphy pulled in 787 votes (35.3%) of the 2,227 total votes cast in District 3.

Democrat Michael Newman finished in second place, receiving 546 votes (24.5%).

Incumbent Steve Spradley – one of three candidates running with no party affiliation (NPA) – garnered 450 votes (20.2%) to finish in a close third place. Spradley has served as District 3 commissioner for the past seven months after being appointed by Governor Rick Scott following the death of Russell.

Ursula Miller (NPA) finished fourth with 260 votes (11.7%) and former District 3 County Commissioner Jody James DeVane (NPA) received 184 votes (8.3%) to place fifth.

DeVane held the District 3 seat from 2012 to 2016 before being unseated by Russell in the 2016 election.

Feagle wins third term on county commission

Incumbent Democrat Pam Feagle earned a third term as Distrct 4’s representative on the county commission Tuesday night with a 1,143 – 761 win over Republican challenger Douglas Cruce, according to results posted by the Supervisor of Elections.

Feagle collected 60% of the 1,904 total votes cast in District 4, compared to Cruce’s 40%.

Feagle held a commanding 400-190 advantage (67.8% to 32.2%) in votes cast at Precinct #1 (First United Church), while the results were closer – 230 to 153 (60% to 40%) at Precinct 6 (Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church) and Precinct #7 (Johnson Stripling Road), where Feagle won 513 to 418 (55% to 45%).

Feagle previously won election to the District 4 season in 2010 and 2014, following a term on the city council.

Moody wins commission race against Buckley

Jim Moody won re-election to a second term in the District 2 county commission seat over challenger Cassie Buckley, according to local election results released Tuesday night.

Moody, the self-described “working man’s candidate,” pulled in just over 60% of the vote to outpace Buckley, a home-schooling mother of seven children, by a margin of 743 to 487 (60.4% to 39.6%).

Moody easily outdistanced Buckley at Precinct 2 (Big Bend Technical College) by a margin of 450-213 (67.9% to 32.1%), but the race was very tight at Precinct #8, where Moody held a slim 293-274 advantage (51.7% to 48.3%).

Moody was first elected to the county commission in 2012 to fill out the remaining two-year term of Mark Wiggins, who stepped down to run for tax collector.

Moody defeated Bobby Edwards 851 to 540 (61.2% to 38.8%) in the 2012 general election and then was re-elected without opposition two years later in 2014.

School tax referendum passes easily

A local referendum asking voters to allow the Taylor County School Board to continue to impose a 0.25 mill property tax levy easily passed during Tuesday’s General Election by a margin of 71.1% to 28.9%.

Out of a total of 7,988 ballots cast, 5,112 voted “yes” and 2,080 voted “no.”

The easy passage was in sharp contrast to the two previous times Taylor County voters approved the 0.25 mill levy, which passed 3,538 to 3,040 (53.8% to 46.2%) in 2014 and 3,309 to 3,100 (51.6% to 48.4%) in 2010.

Last year, the additional funding provided $341,177 that local schools used to provide enrichment and special area classes such as drama, music, STEM, technology and media in libraries.

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