Campaign workers outside the Collier County Public Library headquarters in Naples today. All the candidates named on the signs lost their races. (Photo: Author)
Aug. 21, 2024 by David Silverberg
Updated 5:50 pm with Johnny Fratto information. Updated Aug. 23 with judicial results.
In a nearly complete rout, Make America Great Again (MAGA) Republican candidates endorsed by the Collier County Republican Executive Committee (CCREC, referred to here as the REC) were defeated in yesterday’s primary election.
With all 67 precincts reporting, results posted by the Collier County Supervisor of Elections office showed candidates endorsed by the REC and local farmer and grocer Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III going down to defeat, a stunning reversal of 2022’s results.
Overall voter turnout was 24.9 percent with only 64,465 ballots cast out of a pool of 258,528 eligible voters.
Because this was a closed primary and the county is overwhelmingly Republican, the local Republican primaries effectively counted as the election.
In major local races Melissa Blazier, current county Supervisor of Elections, kept her seat, winning with 48.5 percent of the vote, or 20,726 votes. David Schaffel, who was backed by the REC and Oakes, followed with 34.8 percent, or 14,881 votes and Tim Geurrette, a retired law enforcement officer, came in third with 16.8 percent or 7,165 votes.
As of 11:00 pm Vickie Downs led the race to keep her seat as Property Appraiser by a mere 389 votes, or 43.7 percent over her nearest rival, Jim Molenaar, with 42.7 percent. Molenaar was backed by the REC and Oakes.
In the race for Republican State Committeeman, Douglas Rankin, who was ousted by Oakes in 2020, made a comeback, winning back his position with 56.3 percent of the vote over his rival Frank Schwerin, with 43.7 percent. Oakes had intended to run for the seat but was disqualified when he failed to file his paperwork on time.
In Collier County District 3, Burt Saunders, the incumbent commissioner who had been targeted for ouster by MAGA Republicans, defeated three challengers, winning by 47.1 percent. His nearest rival, Frank Roberts gained only 29.3 percent.
Stephanie Lucarelli, the School Board member for District 2, won her race by 53.9 percent over challenger Pam Cunningham, with 46.1 percent.
Erick Carter, the other incumbent School Board member, also kept his seat by 56 percent over Tom Henning’s 44 percent.
In a race for Republican State Committeewoman, the Oakes-backed candidate Kristina Heuser was a rare MAGA success, winning with 52.6 percent of the vote over longtime conservative activist JoAnn DeBartolo with 47.4 percent.
In the hotly contested and bitter Republican battle for state House District 81, covering southern coastal Collier County, Yvette Benarroch edged out retired businessman and Marco Island councilman Greg Folley by 56.3 percent to 43.7 percent.
In the major statewide race, Sen. Rick Scott retained his party’s nomination over two challengers with a whopping 88.8 percent of Republican votes.
However, in the Democratic nominating race for US Senate, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell also won her race with an overwhelming 77.9 percent of the vote.
Mucarsel-Powell and Scott will face off in November.
In the race for the congressional District 26 Republican nomination, incumbent Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart maintained his dominance, winning with 73.2 percent of the vote. Johnny Fratto, who was endorsed by Oakes, came in a distant second at 16.5 percent.
Incumbent judge Elizabeth Krier in the 20th Judicial Circuit, Group 28 kept her seat with 53.4 percent of the vote. Judge Erik Leontiev, although winning in Collier County, ultimately lost to Tracey Redd in the five-county 20th Judicial Circuit, Group 6, getting 48 percent of the vote to Redd’s 52 percent.
Liberty lives in light
© 2024 by David Silverberg