County Judge: Incumbents likely to keep bench roles
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published September 1, 2004
TAMPA - Early poll results indicated there may not be much passing of the gavels at the Hillsborough courthouse, with each incumbent county judge ahead of his or her challengers.
For Judge Charlotte Anderson, Tuesday ended the final campaign of her career. Age requirements made this the last year Anderson, 60, was eligible to run to keep her Group 10 seat.
By late evening, she appeared to have a comfortable lead on Kim Hernandez Vance, a 43-year-old attorney.
For her part, Vance said she didn't plan to see how the race ended Tuesday night.
"I'm in bed, so I really don't know what the numbers are at all," Vance said from her South Tampa home. "It's raining. When you're not the victor, you're better off in bed."
Early poll returns gave Judge Artemus "Art" McNeil an edge over veteran lawyer Chris DeBock, 53, in the race for the Group 13 seat.
McNeil, 50, became the newest of Hillsborough's six black jurists when Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the county bench last year.
Tuesday, McNeil said he didn't feel comfortable commenting on his early lead.
"I don't know what to say yet," he said. "I'm just waiting to see what the results are going to be." Before his appointment by Gov. Bush, McNeil served as an assistant state attorney for about 14 years.
In the Group 15 race, Judge Paul Huey, 44, held a commanding lead over 39-year-old lawyer Victor Veschio. Appointed to the bench in 2001, Huey spent more than 15 years as a lawyer handling mostly business litigation. As a judge, he's presided over county civil, county criminal and criminal domestic violence divisions.
"I'm happy, and I thank all my volunteers," Huey said.
He gathered downtown with campaign workers for an outdoor celebration at a restaurant, but impending rains sent him home, Huey said.
Three experienced lawyers jockeyed for the Group 11 seat that Judge Elvin Martinez will vacate. The only woman in the race, Liz Rice, appeared to be the early victor. Rice, 40, managed to stay ahead of opponents Henry Gill, 65, and Brad Souders, 39.
"We're celebrating more of the fact that it's over," Rice said.
She said she's probably one of the few South Tampa residents without cable television or high-speed Internet at home. She didn't plan on staying up for the final poll results.
"It's like a Florida, Florida State game that goes into double overtime at 1 a.m.," she said.
