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TAMPA - With a pledge to extend the professionalism he has brought to his office, Rob Turner appeared headed for an easy victory over Will Lavasseur in the race for Hillsborough property appraiser.
Because no Democrats entered the race, a win Tuesday would give Turner a third consecutive term as the person in charge of setting county tax assessments.
With about 30 percent of precincts reporting, Turner had received 86 percent of the votes and Lavasseur about 13 percent.
"I am gratified that the voters of Hillsborough County have again supported me and the reforms made in this office," said Turner, 53, who celebrated with staff and supporters at the Italian Club in Ybor City.
Eight years ago, Turner was a political newcomer, a bank executive taking on well-financed, two-term Democratic incumbent Ron Alderman. With allegations of favoritism, illegal appraisal methods and assessment errors rampant in Alderman's office, Turner narrowly pulled off an upset victory in 1996. Four years later, after modernizing the office and ending what he called "handouts at the candy store," Turner beat Patrick Hannon, a former Alderman lieutenant.
This year, Turner faced an unknown who stumbled at the outset of his campaign. Lavasseur, 36, a Milburn Academy teacher, never seemed to get on track after it was revealed he had unknowingly hired a convicted child molester to coordinate his campaign. Also, two years ago, when he was a Florida Department of Children and Families staffer, Lavasseur called off a campaign for the county commission after running afoul of the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits some state employees from seeking partisan offices. He was fired from DCF.
Last year, Lavasseur was terminated from a job with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Lavasseur's chief criticism of Turner was that his assessments are too high. But the Florida Department of Revenue has said assessment levels in Hillsborough are appropriate.