Hillsborough races and issues
November 21, 2004
Win extends female judge trend
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
Courthouse sages credit a young lawyer's gender for her win over an experienced man in a judicial race. Liz Rice differs.
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November 11, 2004
Luck of the draw decides election race
By BILL COATS
Two candidates for a governing board draw cards to decide the winner of a tie.
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November 6, 2004
Persistent tie vote may be decided by coin toss
By BILL COATS
LUTZ - Voters in the 800-home Cheval West development needed to elect two members to their governing board this week.
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November 5, 2004
Nearly 500 provisional ballots don't make cut
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Most of the rejected ballots were cast by people who had not registered to vote, officials say.
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November 4, 2004
Snow's showing leads Libertarians
By JOSH ZIMMER
No Libertarian candidate did better in the state than Kim Snow of Carrollwood, who received an unheard of 31 percent of the vote against a Republican incumbent.
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Coattails, late attacks hurt Buckhorn's chances at polls
By BILL VARIAN
Well-known Democrat Bob Buckhorn had lots of name recognition - but could that have pushed voters away?
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November 3, 2004
Did elections supervisor try to cut in line at poll?
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
TAMPA - A day after his aborted, last-minute attempt to vote early at the College Hill Library, where hundreds waited as long as six hours to cast early ballots, Hillsborough elections supervisor Buddy Johnson waited his turn in line at his home precinct in Plant City on Election Day.
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District 56: Traviesa with big lead over write-in rival
By Times Staff Writer
TAMPA - Political newcomer Anthony "Trey" Traviesa appeared headed for an easy victory over write-in candidate Cornelius "Neil" Cosentino for the State House District 56 seat.
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Friends of redevelopment project swept into office
By BABITA PERSAUD and JOSH ZIMMER
The new mayor and three council members all support a $150-million project near the Hillsborough River.
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Gee close to being sheriff, officially
By Times Staff Writer
TAMPA - Supporters have been calling David Gee "sheriff" for weeks. Tuesday night he was well on his way to making it official as early tallies came in. Gee, a Hillsborough Sheriff's Office veteran who has been second in charge behind retiring Sheriff Cal Henderson, had 98 percent of the vote, with just 2 percent for write-in candidate William Godwin. The Republican also defeated retired FBI agent Lane Bonner in the Aug. 31 Republican primary. But Gee has been unable to officially declare victory until he beats Godwin, a 50-year-old tree surgeon from southern Hillsborough with a history of arrests going back nearly 30 years.
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Incumbent Holt holding steady lead in early tallies
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
TAMPA - Hillsborough Public Defender Julianne Holt appeared headed to a fourth term in office Tuesday, leading challenger William Knight with a slim but steady margin.
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Johnson keeps elections post
By GRAHAM BRINK
Despite problems with the August primary, he beats challenger Robert MacKenna.
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New boss for county's top lawyer
By Times Staff Writer
The county attorney now will report to the elected commissioners.
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Rice grabs lead against opponent Gill
By GRAHAM BRINK
TAMPA - With about a third of the precincts reporting, Liz Rice was leading in the race to become Hillsborough's newest county court judge.
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Voters see long lines, small bugs, no chaos
By JEFF TESTERMAN and BRADY DENNIS
Expecting the worst, Hillsborough residents and officials encounter a mostly orderly process, devoid of 2000's issues.
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Republicans lead all four County Commission races
By BILL COATS
Republicans Brian Blair and Mark Sharpe return a Republican majority to the commission for the second time since 2002.
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October 30, 2004
Bobbles bedevil elections supervisor
By JEFF TESTERMAN
A series of problems, not always of his own making, have been a baptism of fire for Buddy Johnson and fueled an election foe's criticism.
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October 29, 2004
Groups offer child care as a lure to polls
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
They are targeting single women with children in hopes of mobilizing the potential voting bloc.
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October 28, 2004
Absentee ballot plan criticized
By JOSH ZIMMER
TAMPA - The primary race ended eight weeks ago, but Republican state House candidate Bill Bunkley is still questioning his razor thin loss to District 47 incumbent Kevin Ambler.
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Gridlock settles in at early voting sites
By JEFF TESTERMAN nd JEFF SOLOCHEK
High turnout, crowded ballots and computer glitches bring early voting to a crawl in Hillsborough.
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October 25, 2004
Partisan era may come to an end
By BILL VARIAN
Candidates for the County Commission pledge cooperation, and a five-person supermajority is a possible outcome.
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October 23, 2004
Lost votes should oust official, opponent says
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Rob MacKenna says Buddy Johnson misled officials and should resign from his post.
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Students complain of false party swap
By DAVID KARP
Scores of college students say they were tricked into changing their registration to the Republican Party when signing petitions.
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October 16, 2004
Ballot instructions confuse voters
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Absentee ballots came with two sets of instructions about how to mark a vote. But they contradicted one another on which writing tool to use.
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October 12, 2004
Election office racing clock
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Hillsborough's voter registration applications might not be processed by the time early voting begins Monday.
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October 3, 2004
Attorney seeks to unseat his former boss
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
William Knight, 36, son of an old Tampa family, campaigns on a simple promise to keep the talent in the public defender's office.
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September 4, 2004
Slow count blamed on computer indexing
By JEFF TESTERMAN
Machine vendor Sequoia Voting Systems diagnoses what delayed the ballot tabulation.
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September 2, 2004
Bleary eyes wait up for Hillsborough tally
By BILL VARIAN and JEFF TESTERMAN
TAMPA - Susan Valdes hit the sack Tuesday close to midnight, still not knowing how her bid for the school board turned out in Hillsborough's primary election.
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Valdes or Torgersen? Voters to decide Nov. 2
By MELANIE AVE
A draggy count finally confirms it Wednesday morning: Two District 1 School Board candidates face a runoff.
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131 votes give edge to Ambler in slugfest
By JOSH ZIMMER
The state House race was characterized by negative ads financed by special interests.
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September 1, 2004
12th Congressional District: Hagenmaier, Putnam likely to square off
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Voters in U.S. House District 12 appeared to chose a political giant over a lesser known and a social conservative over a social liberal.
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County Judge: Incumbents likely to keep bench roles
By KEVIN GRAHAM
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.
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Property Appraiser: Incumbent Turner surges to big lead over challenger
By JEFF TESTERMAN
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.
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Backlog delays Hillsborough totals
By BRADY DENNIS and TAMARA LUSH
On an otherwise smooth election night, an overflow of data meant Hillsborough's final numbers won't be known until this morning.
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County Commission: Hagan, Storms, Buckhorn lead primary contestants
By BILL VARIAN, BILL COATS and MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
The two commissioners and ex-City Council member were leading opponents by comfortable margins.
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State House: 3 gain leads in quest for Tallahassee
By Times staff writers
But in the GOP's northwest Hillsborough primary, the results were inconclusive.
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Supervisor of Elections: Member of 'Dean's Dozens,' MacKenna, grabs early lead
By JEFF TESTERMAN
TAMPA - Howard Dean backer Rob MacKenna, one of two proponents of paper trail electronic voting, had the early lead over Steven Henley on Tuesday night in the race for the Democratic nomination for Hillsborough supervisor of elections.
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Circuit Court Judge: Bergmann seems headed to victory
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
Appointed to the bench in 2002, Charles "Ed" Bergmann held a commanding lead over his Group 17 seat challenger.
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State Attorney: Ober cruises toward re-election
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
The Hillsborough State Attorney could still face a Democrat, pending a ruling.
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County Sheriff: Gee takes GOP lead
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Cal Henderson's second-in-command builds a commanding lead at the polls, leaving retired FBI agent Lane Bonner far behind.
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August 31, 2004
Many opt to cast early ballots
By BILL VARIAN
One in seven likely voters have already voted, partly muting the effect of last-minute negative campaigning.
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Unease marks state attorney race
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
With court papers filed by a potential write-in candidate, the election of Hillsborough State Attorney may not end today.
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August 28, 2004
Candidates elevate growth as key issue
By BILL VARIAN
Nearly everyone seeking a commission seat says it's the county's No. 1 concern.
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August 26, 2004
Candidate hopes church is feather that tips vote scale
By JOSH ZIMMER
Idlewild Baptist Church leaders say they are behind William Bunkley in his House race.
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August 25, 2004
Commission hopefuls would derail fast train
By BILL VARIAN
Most say they oppose the bullet train, which is back on the ballot this fall, because of the cost, estimated at more than $20-billion over 30 years.
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August 21, 2004
Candidate takes criticism on party support, funding
By JANET ZINK
TAMPA - The jabs kept coming and Trey Traviesa, a political newcomer, kept ducking.
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August 19, 2004
Late registrations disqualify 1,500 voters
By KEVIN GRAHAM
The low-income voters who registered through a third party will be allowed to vote in the general election on Nov. 2.
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Ad flings up campaign mud
By LETITIA STEIN and JONI JAMES
An obscure group labels Florida House candidate Rich Glorioso an irresponsible spender against lower taxes.
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August 17, 2004
Hurricane precaution delays first early voters
By BILL VARIAN
TAMPA - Hillsborough County's early voting early birds were greeted by a slight wait before they were able to cast their ballots Monday, and they can thank Hurricane Charley.
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August 8, 2004
Primary campaign comes to doorstep
By LETITIA STEIN
Three Republicans a state House seat are trying to distinguish themselves, one smile and handshake at a time.
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