Clay Ford beat George Scarborough by 402 votes– of which 328 votes where from Gulf Breeze area–in the GOP primary in 2007 to fill the seat vacated by Holly Benson. Less than 7,000 votes were cast in the primary. Ford, who had served on the Gulf Breeze Council from 1990-2007, garnered nearly 56 percent of the Gulf Breeze votes.
The district has changed since then. Pensacola Christian College is now in District 1 – Clay Ingram. However, 7,000 votes is probably the most that will be cast in the GOP Primary. How many votes it will take to win will be dependent on how many candidates are in the race.
The only two that have firmly announced are State Farm agent and Tea Party leader Mike Hill and former Gulf Breeze mayor and school board member Ed Gray, III. There are two others that appeared poised to run: George Scarborough and Frank White. If all four get in the race, I project that 2,200-2,400 votes will win the Republican nomination. And it is wide-open–he who get his voters to the poll wins.
| Escambia | S, Rosa | Total | ||
| Clay Ford | 1737 | 586 | 2323 | 34.3% |
| George Scarborough | 1663 | 258 | 1921 | 28.4% |
| Lyn Hart | 1264 | 49 | 1313 | 19.4% |
| T. Banjanin | 1153 | 162 | 1315 | 17.9% |
| 5817 | 1055 | 6872 | ||
| 85% | 15% |