BREAKING: 2020 Primary Election Unofficial Results

Posted on August 19, 2020

Beach wins primary, will face Tharpe in November

Shawna Beach pulled in 70.12% of the vote to handily defeat fellow Republican challenger Jerry Register (29.88%) in the Republican primary race for the Taylor County Property Appraiser’s seat Tuesday night.

After more than a decade working in a variety of roles within the office, Beach will now advance to a General Election showdown against Abbey Lundy Tharpe, who is running with no party affiliation (NPA).

Beach grabbed a 908-359 advantage after early votes were counted and then extended her lead by winning the election day vote by a 1,011 to 376 margin.

When mail-in ballots were tabulated early Wednesday morning, Beach cushioned her lead by receiving 782 more votes compared to 416 for Register.

According to unofficial results, Beach garnered 2,701 (70%) of the 3,852 total votes cast, while Register pulled in 1,151 (30%).

Beach, a certified Florida evaluator who currently serves as office manager, bookkeeper and tangible personal property roll manager, is seeking to win the seat currently held by Bruce Ratliff, who is retiring after serving three terms in office.

Glover defeats Beshears to retain superintendent seat

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Danny Glover Jr. won a second term in office during Tuesday’s Primary Election, edging out challenger Alicia Beshears by just over 600 votes out of 6,344 ballots cast.

Glover held a narrow lead of just 99 votes prior to mail-in ballots being tallied, however that lead extended to 604 votes once the mail-in results were added during the early morning hours Wednesday.

Glover garnered a total of 3,474 votes (54.76%) to Beshears 2,870 votes (45.24).

The incumbent superintendent had 1,144 votes cast in his favor on Election Day, to go along with 960 early votes and 1,370 mail-in votes.

Beshears had a strong showing at the polls with 1,126 votes, coupled with 879 early votes. However, Beshears fell further behind when mail-in ballots were counted, totaling 865 — 505 less than Glover’s 1,370.

Knowles will succeed Murphy as clerk

Senior Deputy Clerk Gary “Bubba” Knowles (60.45%) out-polled fellow Republican challenger and local businessman Mike Hunter (39.55%) by approximately 1,316 votes on Tuesday, earning the right to succeed veteran Clerk of Court Annie Mae Murphy.

Knowles received a total of 3,807 votes, while Hunter earned 2,,491 votes.

Knowles pulled in 1,253 votes at the polls on election day, compared to 992 for Hunter.

Knowles had an even larger advantage (1,223 to 613) when early votes were counted.

When the mail-in ballots were finally counted after 4:30 a.m., Knowles had 1,331 compared to 886 for Hunter.

After working in the clerk’s office for the past 27 years, Knowles will now take over for Murphy at the end of this year.

Murphy, who announced she will retire after completing her ninth term in office, endorsed Knowles to succeed her.

Padgett wins second term as sheriff

Incumbent Sheriff Wayne Padgett earned a second term in office on Tuesday, pulling in 74.28% of the vote to defeat challenger Danny McLeod.

Padgett led by a 3-1 margin (76% to 24%) after after early votes were counted (1,391 to 432), and received a total of 1,675 more votes on ballots cast at the 14 precincts on election day, while McLeod received 603.

When mail-in ballots were finally tabulated early Wednesday morning, Padgett extended his lead, pulling in 1,641 mail-in ballot votes, compared to 595 for McLeod.

Padgett finished with 4,707 total votes, while McLeod received 1,630.

English wins commission District 1 seat

Jamie English will succeed long-term Taylor County Commissioner Malcolm Page as the representative of District 1 this November after defeating two other challengers in Tuesday’s primary election.

English received 685 votes (58.85%), while Brandon Thomas Fletcher received 375 votes (32.22%) and Glenn Frith received 104 votes (8.93%).

All three were running as Republicans, resulting in a universal primary, which means there will be no run-off election.

English will take over the seat in November from Page, who announced earlier this year he was withdrawing from the District 1 race and would not seek re-election to a fifth term.

Newman defeats Murphy, three others in District 3 race

Two years after finishing second in another five-person race for the same seat, Michael Elzie Newman won a five-candidate race for the Taylor County Commission District 3 race, defeating incumbent Sean Murphy and three others.

All five were running as Republicans, resulting in a universal primary in which all voters in District 3 could participate. As such, there will be no run-off in November, despite the fact that no candidate received more than 50% of the vote.

Newman finished with 583 votes (33.11%), followed by Jody DeVane with 360 votes (20.44%), Ursula Miller with 327 votes (18.57%), Richard Carr with 316 votes (17.94%) and incumbent Murphy with 175 votes (9.94%).

Murphy was elected in 2018 to fulfill the final two years of the term originally held by the late Frank Russell, who died in office earlier that year.

Murphy, the only Republican in the race two years ago, garnered 35.38% of the vote (789 votes) to defeat Newman (546 votes) who drew 24.48% of the votes cast running as a Democrat.

Three other candidates ran with No Party Affiliation (NPA) in 2018, including: Steve Spradley (450 votes – 20.18%), Ursula Miller (261 votes – 11.70%) and Jody DeVane (184 votes – 8.25%).

Demps wins second term in office

Taylor County Commissioner (District 5) Thomas Demps won re-election to a second term in office, defeating fellow Democrat, Ocie “Gator” Reaves.

Demps received 298 votes (67.07%) while Reaves finished 298 votes (32.93%).

Demps received 175 votes at the polls, 208 early votes and 224 mail-in ballots while Reaves received 127 votes at the polls, 74 early votes and 97 mail-in ballots.

Demps was first elected to the county commission in 2016, succeeding Commissioner Pat Patterson, who retired.

In that year, Demps won a four-candidate Democratic primary with 39.65% of the vote. Reaves, who also ran in 2016, finished third in the primary election with 20.06% of the vote.

Demps went on to defeat Independent candidate Junior Dice 63% to 37% in the 2016 General Election in 2016.

Mathis clinches second term

A strong showing with mail-in voters extended incumbent Jeannie Mathis’ lead over challenger Guy Gibson in Tuesday’s Primary Election to clinch a second term in office as the District 3 representative on the Taylor County School Board.

Mathis pulled in 195 early votes, 455 votes at the polls and pulled in 421 votes from mail-in voters.

Gibson had a strong showing with 153 early votes, but then trailed with 290 votes at the polls and 190 mail-in ballots.

Mathis won by garnering a total of 1,071 votes (62.85%) to Gibson’s 633 votes (37.15%).

Mathis was first elected to the board in 2016.

Dunnell defends seat; wins second term

Deidra Dunnell successfully defended her District 5 seat on the Taylor County School Board against challenger Daniel “Dan” Chaney in Tuesday’s Primary Election.

Dunnell, who was first elected to the board in 2016, earned a total of 537 votes (58.18%) to Chaney’s 386 votes (41.82%).

She outpaced Chaney across the board, with 218 votes at the polls, 149 early votes and 170 mail-in votes.

Chaney had a strong showing with early and mail-in voters with 153 and 147 votes respectively. However, he fell short at the polls with just 86 votes.

Hampton retains District 2 city council seat

City Council member Shirlie Hampton will retain her District 2 seat after defeating challenger Donnie L. Pickford by a two-to-one margin Tuesday.

Hampton pulled in 195 (68.7%) of the 284 total votes cast in the District 2 city race, while Pickford received 89 (31.3%).

Hampton earned a third term on the city council by defeating Pickford for a second straight time.

Four years ago, Hampton outpaced Pickford nearly two-to-one, capturing 162 votes compared to his 90.

A total of 284 voters cast a ballot in this year’s primary election, compared to 252 who voted in the District 2 race in 2016.

Hampton will begin her new four-year term on the city council in September.

Durrett wins race for state attorney

In the race for Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney, John Durrett defeated fellow Republican candidate Tina Seifert by 1,586 votes among Taylor County voters in Tuesday’s special election Republican Primary.

Durrett, a prosecutor and division chief of 13 years, garnered 3,801 votes (63.18%) in Taylor County, while 25-year-career attorney Seifert pulled in 2,215 votes (36.82%).

With no Democrat challenger to face in the November General Election, Durrett wins the Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney seat vacated by Jeff Seigmeister, who stepped down earlier this year.

Preston defeats Horbowy, will face Ausley for state senate seat

In the race for Senate District 3, Marva Harris Preston will advance to the November General Election after claiming 1,217 more votes than Benjamin Alexander T. J. Horbowy among Taylor County voters in Tuesday’s special election Republic Primary.

Preston, a retired homicide detective and ordained minister, garnered 2,431 votes (66.69%) in Taylor County, while “non-establishment” veteran Horbowy pulled in 1,214 votes (33.31%).

Preston also defeated Horbowy in all 11 counties that make up the sprawling Senate district, including Calhoun (814 to 355), Franklin (988 to 337), Gadsden (1,343 to 329), Gulf (1,975 to 657), Hamilton (964 to 365), Jefferson (1,273 to 308), Leon (16,085 to 3,542), Liberty (598 to 209), Madison (1,191 to 398) and Wakulla (3,921 to 797).

Preston will advance to the November 3 General Election to face Loranne Ausley, who was first elected to the Florida House in 2000, served till 2008, then rejoined the House in 2016.

More details to come

More details on the candidates and unofficial results from the primary election are available on our website (www.perrynewspapers.com). Full coverage will be included in Friday’s Perry News-Herald.

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