Zembower leads in Seminole commission race
Republican Jay Zembower held a razor-thin lead over Democrat Katrina Shadix in the County Commission District 2 seat in a political contest in which protecting Seminole’s rural area was the main issue. Paul Cooper, a candidate running without party affiliation, lagged a distant third.
With 79 out of 80 precincts reporting, Zembower received 48.8 percent of the 189,856 votes cast, Shadix garnered 48.5 percent and Cooper nearly 3 percent, according to unofficial results. If Zembower holds on, his margin would be less than half a percent of the total votes cast, so under Florida law a recount would be warranted. Current District 2 commissioner John Horan decided not to seek a third term.
In the race for the vacant commission District 4 seat, Republican Amy Lockhart defeated a write-in candidate. She received 91 percent of the votes cast. The District 4 seat became vacant Aug. 1 after longtime Commissioner Carlton Henley resigned because of health reasons.
In Sanford’s runoff election, Mayor Jeff Triplett was elected to a third term after defeating political newcomer Pasha Baker, a thirdgeneration Sanford resident. Triplett received 54 percent of the 18,136 votes cast.
In his campaign, Triplett pointed out that Sanford in recent years has transformed its downtown into a destination spot for visitors with its large number of restaurants and craft breweries opening. He added that the city recently started moving forward with building the Eastside Community Center on eight vacant acres at the northeast corner of Mellonville and Celery avenues. Similar to the city’s Westside Community Center on Persimmon Avenue in Goldsboro, the new community center would offer athletic fields and a facility for a youth and adult programs.
Tuesday’s runoff election was needed after Triplett fell just shy of winning a majority of the vote in the Aug. 28 primary. Triplett received 49 percent and Baker placed second in the four-way field with just over 23 percent.
In the Seminole Commission District 2 race, all three candidates campaigned on the promise of protecting the county’s rural area, saying that high-density development should be concentrated in urban areas. In 2004, Seminole voters approved a ballot measure that established a strict rural boundary east of the Econlockhatchee River. Densities in that rural area are currently limited to between one home per three acres and one home per 10 acres. But a majority vote by commissioners can change that zoning.
Zembower, 57, of Chuluota is part owner of Zembower’s Auto Center in Altamonte Springs. He also is a consultant in automotive investigative forensics for law enforcement, government agencies and law firms. Zembower raised eight times the amount of political contributions than Shadix. And by the end of September, Zembower had amassed a total of $161,630 in contributions, mostly from development interests. He also threw in $180,294 of his own money into his campaign.
Shadix, on the other hand, received about $18,000 in contributions and gave herself roughly $2,200 to her campaign. Cooper, meanwhile, had $5,000, nearly all of his own money.