There were very few surprises last night when the Escambia County election results were announced. With less the 30% of the votes cast being by Democrats, GOP candidates did exceptionally well across the board.
The turnout for Democratic votes was 48%, while Republicans had a 64% turnout. Republicans Congressman Matt Gaetz, State Sen. Doug Broxson, Rep. Michelle Salzman, Rep. Alex Andrade and Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender easily defeated their Democratic opponents.
Only one incumbent lost – District 6 City Councilwoman Ann Hill, who lose to Allison Patton, 55%-45%. Patton and District 2’s Charles Bare led in the August primary, and both won the general election.
One surprise is city voters rejected four of the five proposed city charter amendments. Only Amendment 4 – which will raise the council salaries by more than $20,000 annually in 2024 – passed, 55%-45%.
A decade ago, the council salaries were only $12,000 annually. During the Hayward administration, Councilman Larry Johnson led the charge to increase the pay to $21,000, arguing the higher pay would encourage more candidates to run.
In the Escambia County Commission District 4 race, Myra Van Hoose continually bashed Bender over the county’s 401(a) pension, accusing the incumbent and Commissioners Steven Barry and Lumon May of being more concerned about enriching themselves than helping the voters — an attack bolstered by the News Journal, Clerk Pam Childers and those seeking to change county government’s structure.
As Inweekly’s polling has shown, voters aren’t concerned about the issue. Bender’s victory validated the polling on the issue.