Show Notes
915 PM FINAL ELECTIONS RESULTS; MAJOR CHANGES COMING TO BOTH COUNTY COMMISSIONS
By Andrew McKay
Big changes are coming to both Escambia and Santa Rosa County Commissions as voters decisively ousted three of four incumbents from their seats.
In Escambia County, two term District One incumbent Jeff Bergosh was beaten by first time challenger Steve Stroberger 54% to 37% in spite of perennial candidate Jesse Casey taking 9% of the vote out of play. This is the first true majority election in that district since Wilson Robertson narrowly beat Casey 50-49 in 2012.
Also in Escambia County, first time candidate Aslee Hofberger won a tight three-way primary contest with 38% of the vote against Walker Wilson with 33% and Buck Mitchell with 30%. She will face Democrat Ron Helms in November, but is widely expected to win the heavily Republican district.
This means that what had been for eight years a very solid three vote majority of Barry, May, and Bergosh (sometimes four when Robert Bender was the District Four Commissioner) has now been split in half with Lumon May (D3) and Steven Barry (D5) on one side against Mike Kohler (D2) and Steve Stroberger (D1) on the other, leaving Ashlee Hofberger (or possibly Ron Helms) as the decisive swing vote. Lumon May (D3) was reelected without opposition, but District Five's Steven Barry will face a challenge from NPA candidate Joshua Roberson in November, and it will be interesting to see whether the anti-incumbent sentiment carries over into that race.
In Santa Rosa County, voters were similarly vehement in their ouster of two incumbents. District One Commissioner Sam Parker lost his seat to challenger Bobby Burkett 52-34, with Aaron Williams seecuring 10% and Rollar Ayers getting just 4%. The difficulty of anyone getting an outright majority in a four person race makes this win significant.
In District Three, voters decisively ousted one term incumbent James Calkins in favor of first time candidate Rhett Rowell, who won with 43% of the vote to Calkins 28% and Jerry Couey 29%. Since Calkins has been such a source of controversy on the Board during his four years, this should mean fewer headlines and, perhaps, shorter meetings.
In District Five, the only incumbent in both counties who won re-election was Colten Wright with 57% against challenger Mike Priest at 43%. Given the overall anti-incumbent sentiment, securing 57% support is a pretty strong endorsement from the voters.
