Key West and Monroe County primary election results

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

The 2016 Monroe County primary election results pushed two incumbents out of office.

There was an upset in the race for Monroe County School Board District 3 seat. Incumbent Capt. Ed Davidson lost to newcomer Mindy Conn, who received just under 59 percent of the vote to Davidson’s 41 percent.

Another upset came in the heated battle for the County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller position. Incumbent Amy Heavilin, who had a rocky first term when several of her staff resigned after she came into office, was beaten by Kevin Madok. Madok received 52.15 percent while Heavilin received 47.85 percent of the vote.

In Key West, a spirited race for Mayor ended with incumbent Craig Cates winning an unprecedented fifth term. Cates received a lion’s share of the votes, 62.57 percent. Challengers Randy Becker and Ed “Krane” Karsch received 30.44 percent and 6.99 percent respectively. Despite winning over 50 percent of the vote, Cates will face write-in candidate Sloan Bashinski in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Key West, District VI City Commissioner Clayton Lopez was reelected unopposed after challenger Air Force Master Sgt. Nathan Brock dropped out earlier this month, alleging that Scott Fraser, a friend of Lopez’, committed election tampering after Fraser purchased the Internet domain names electnathanbrock.com and sent a letter to Brock’s military supervisor questioning his candidacy.

On the Monroe County level, District 5 County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy handily won reelection over challenger Robby Majeska. Murphy received just under 62 percent of the vote, versus 38 percent for Majeska.

Sharon Hamilton easily won her race against Robert Stober to replace retiring Monroe County Judge W. Regan Ptomey in County Court Judge Group 3. Hamilton received 57.43 percent to Stober’s 42.57 percent.

Back in Key West, there were two races for a seat on the local utility Board. In Group 2, incumbent Peter Batty won his race against Tom Milone by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin.

In Group 3, incumbent Timothy Root fought off two challengers but did not receive the necessary 50 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off election in November against Carol Schreck. Root received 41.29 percent of the vote, Schreck received 36.9 percent and the single-named photographer Vidal received 21.81 percent.

There were two races for the Mosquito Control Board. In the Republican race in District 3, Brandon Pinder beat Stephen Hammond by a 51.53 percent to 48.47 percent margin. Pinder will face Democrat incumbent Steve Smith on Nov. 8.

And in District 3, Janet Wood won the bug board seat over Larry Zettwock by a 53.50 percent to 46.50 percent.

Voters also overwhelming approved a ballot question granting tax breaks for the installation of solar energy panels. The vote was 81 to 19 percent.

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