Gallen, Smith in recount territory in Manatee County. DiSabatino wins.

Posted by Jacob Ogles on Tuesday Aug 26, 2014 8:39 pm

One major race in Southwest Florida was too close to call Tuesday night. Manatee County Commissioner Michael Gallen trailed challenger Charles Smith, a Palmetto City Commissioner, by just five votes when unofficial final results were tallied. That’s enough to force a recount. SRQ could not reach either candidate for comment, which isn’t utterly surprising as neither is in a great position to declare victory or concede.

The race has been controversial in part due to the presence of a write-in candidate who has made little noise since entering the race. Since a write-in candidate is a general election competitor, that means the race was open only to Democratic voters, as opposed to a race with no general election contenders that would be open to all voters in the district. For example, Manatee County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino was re-elected last night over challenger Tim Norwood in a Republican primary where independents and Democrats were allowed to vote, and that election is now over.

The general consensus leading into the election was that the closing of the election hurt Gallen, mostly because it meant a much higher percentage of voters would be minority voters. Gallen, who is white, defeated Gwen Brown, Manatee County’s first black County Commissioner, when he was elected four years ago. Smith and Corie Holmes, the other Democratic candidate, were both black.

Regardless of the racial politics, the election certainly proved closer than financing might indicate. Gallen raised $36,292 to Smith’s $7,805.

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Tags:   Charles Smith  featured  Michael Gallen

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