State attorney, public defender offices will have new leaders

For the first time in more that 40 years, Broward will have a new state attorney.

The office was one of several key posts contested in Tuesday’s primary, and is one of two critical criminal justice positions in the county left open by retirements: Mike Satz, 77, retired after more than four decades as the county’s chief prosecutor, and Howard Finkelstein, 67, retired after 33 years with the public defender’s office, the last 16 as public defender.

Other Broward races included the supervisor of elections, clerk of courts, two school board seats and two county commission seats.

Pembroke Pines had a special election for its District 4 seat and a referendum question asking voters whether the city should terminate its red light cameras running.

While voter turnout on Tuesday was low with only about 50,000 of the approximately 1.3 million registered voters casting ballots, Broward had a higher-than-usual number of people voting by mail with more than 200,000 ballots received. Another approximately 40,000 people voted at early voting sites.

In all, turnout was about 25 percent — with more than 300,000 votes cast — which was higher than the August 2018 primary when turnout was 23.8 percent, and higher than the 23.8 percent turnout in the August 2016 primary, the previous presidential election year.

On Tuesday, voters who are registered as Democrats chose from a field of eight candidates for Broward State Attorney. Harold Fernandez Pryor appeared to be the winner with almost all the votes counted by receiving 21 percent of the vote.

He will face Republican Gregg Rossman, a former Broward assistant state attorney, and Independent Sheila Alu, a former Sunrise commissioner in the Nov. 3 election. Rossman or Alu did not face challengers.

But with Broward being the most heavily Democratic county among the state’s 67 counties, Pryor should have a good chance of winning the seat that has been occupied since November 1976 by Satz, who announced last year that he would not run again and would focus instead on the prosecution of Nikolas Cruz until the end of his term.

Cruz, the then 19-yearold who killed 17 students and staffers at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, is facing the death penalty. The trial has been delayed because of COVID-19 concerns.

The Democratic candidates running for state attorney were: Pryor,

David Cannady, Teresa Fanning-Williams, Joe Kimok, James “Jimmy” Stewart Lewis, Justin McCormack, Sarahnell Murphy, and Joshua David Rydell. Kimok had the second most votes, with about 19 percent.

In the public defender’s race, three candidates were vying to replace the retiring “Help Me Howard” Finkelstein. Finkelstein, who has held the office since 2004, worked in the public defender’s office for 33 years with an additional seven in private practice.

The three candidates running for the seat were Ruby Lenora Green, Tom Lynch and Gordon

Weekes.

Weekes, the executive chief assistant public defender, held a large lead with about 48 percent of the vote, with almost all the votes counted. Before the election, Weekes said in a Sun Sentinel questionnaire that his top priority is equality in the justice system.

“I have worked my entire career to act as a voice of reason and compassion,” he said. “I have stood against the criminalization of youthful misbehavior, supported people living with mental illness and those battling addiction. As Public Defender, I will continue to work to ensure that equality, fairness and justice is accessible to everyone in the community through the work we do in each individual case.”

While Weekes will most likely be the next public defender, there is a writein candidate who filed for November’s general election.

Also, on the ballot Tuesday were two Broward County School Board seats. Four were up for election, but two board members did not face challengers and were automatically elected.

For the District 3 seat, which covers East Broward, Incumbent Heather Brinkworth faced challenger, Sarah Leonardi. Leonardi, a teacher, appeared to have bested Brinkworth, who has held the seat since 2014, by receiving about 52 percent of the vote, with nearly all votes counted.

Leonardi told the Sun Sentinel in a questionnaire before the election that “reopening schools is currently the most challenging and pressing matter facing Broward County Public schools...”

The most sought-after seat was the District 9 seat, which is an at-large position and represents the county. The seat was vacated by long-time member Robin Bartleman, who ran for a Florida House seat. The five candidates running for that seat were: Debra Hixon, Narnike Grant, Jeff Holness, Joyce “Jersey-Girl Bryan and Jimmy Bernard Witherspoon.

Hixon, the widow of Marjory Stoneman Douglas athletic director Chris Hixon, who was killed in the shooting, was the top vote-getter with about 42 percent of the vote. She will face Jeff Holness, who according to the Sun Sentinel, has owned a math and reading training franchise for the last five years, in the Nov. 3 runoff for the seat, which comes with a four-year-term. Holness received about 26 percent of the vote.