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CHRISTOPHER GOFFARDThe Hillsborough State Attorney could still face a Democrat, pending a ruling.
TAMPA - Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober sailed easily to re-election.
Celebrating the election returns at Carmine's restaurant in Ybor City, Ober said he looked forward "to continuing to make Hillsborough a safer place to live."
Ober, 53, a Republican, first won election as state attorney in 2000, promising to restore public trust to an office demoralized by problems and the suicide of Ober's predecessor, Harry Lee Coe.
Before that, Ober spent 10 years as a Tampa prosecutor and 13 years as a defense attorney.
His opponent, Robin Fuson, 46, a former minor league baseball pitcher, served eight years as a Hillsborough prosecutor. Fuson now works in private practice handling mostly DUI and drug cases.
On the campaign trail, Fuson promised if elected to improve what he called mistrustful relations between prosecutors and police, and to establish a specialized drug-prosecution unit.
Ober brought significant advantages to the campaign, including a substantially larger campaign war chest than Fuson's. Ober also won key endorsements from law enforcement and firefighter groups.
Because both Ober and Fuson are Republicans, Tuesday's race was an open primary, which meant all registered voters - not just Republicans - could cast a ballot.
Complicating the race, however, was attorney Alex Stavrou's claim that the state division of elections improperly disqualified him as a write-in candidate.
Had Stavrou been allowed to run, Tuesday's election would have been a Republicans-only primary between Ober and Fuson, with the winner to face Stavrou in November.
The case is now in the hands of a Tallahassee judge, who has yet to rule. It is unclear how the ruling might affect Tuesday's results.