Hudson, Merrett win judicial races

News

by Mike Sharkey

Staff Writer

In an election that went off without any major glitches, attorneys Dawn Hudson and John Merrett were elected to the Fourth Judicial Circuit bench. Hudson, an assistant state attorney, defeated Virginia Norton — an attorney with the Office of General Counsel — by getting 57 percent of the vote. Hudson will preside over the County Court Group 17 seat, which was created earlier this year by the Florida Legislature.

Merrett, a former prosecutor who has been in private practice for the past 14 years, defeated David Thompson by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin. Merrett is the new Circuit Court Group 34 judge.

“It was a great experience and I’m happy about the result,” said Hudson, adding she isn’t sure if she will return to the State Attorney’s Office. “I need to talk to (State Attorney) Harry Shorstein about that. It would be very disruptive.”

Hudson and Merrett join Libby Senterfitt and Dan Wilensky, who were elected in the September primary to fill the Circuit Court Group 33 and Group 35 seats, respectively.

In the governor’s race, Republican Charlie Crist will succeed Gov. Jeb Bush after getting 52 percent of the vote. Crist beat Democrat Jim Davis, who got 46 percent of the vote, and several others, none of whom earned more than 2 percent. Crist spent nearly $40 million on his campaign.

One of the biggest issues facing voters in Duval County was the Cecil Field referendum, which went down in defeat by a 60-40 margin. Well over 100,000 voters opted not to have the City pursue the return of Cecil Commerce Center to the Navy as a master jet base. Mayor John Peyton was opposed to the referendum which was on the ballot thanks to a push from a group called Vote Jacksonville. Peyton said business development at Cecil can continue as planned and the nearly 8,000 people that live near the Commerce Center won’t have to worry about the return of the Navy and possible loss of property values. Seventeen of the 19 City Council members also opposed the referendum, with only Council members Art Graham and Lad Daniels in favor of the Navy’s return.

Local Republican Party Chairman Mike Hightower said the defeat of the referendum was good for Jacksonville and Peyton.

“The victory re-election party for the mayor officially begins tonight,” said Hightower, who is also Peyton’s campaign manager. “We’re talking about the future of Jacksonville here.”

Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said election day went smoothly with a “normal” voter turnout of nearly 40 percent. Holland originally thought the turnout might be much higher due to what he expected might have been a 60-80 percent turnout on the Westside thanks to the Cecil referendum.

Nationally, election day proved to be a banner day for the Democrats. Talk of a major shift in power in Congress materialized as Democrats won almost 30 seats to take control of Congress for the first time since 1994. The Democrats may also regain control of the United States Senate. Two races — one in Montana and one in Virginia — will determine Senate control, but both races are either too close to call or may end up in a recount.

United States Senate

Bill Nelson (D); 60 percent; 2,859,612 votes

Katherine Harris (R); 38 percent; 1,807,044 votes

United States Congress Dist. 14

Ander Crenshaw (R); 70 percent; 141,171 votes

Bob Harms (D); 30 percent; 61,428 votes

United States Congress Dist. 6

Cliff Stearns (R); 60 percent; 136,282 votes

David Bunderly (D); 40 percent; 91,311 votes

Governor and Lt. Governor

Charlie Crist/Jeff Kottkamp (R); 52 percent; 2,495,148 votes

Jim Davis/Daryl Jones (D); 46 percent; 2,153,797 votes