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Hudson wins to succeed former Rep. Davis in special election
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The votes are in.
Matt Hudson
Republican Matt Hudson will succeed Rep. Mike Davis in the Florida House of Representatives.
The former Golden Gate Fire District commissioner defeated Democrat Linda McDonald, a special education teacher, in the special general election Tuesday for the Florida House District 101 seat. The winner will serve the remainder of Davis’ seat through the end of 2008. Davis died from cancer in September.
The vote count was quick in Collier County, with the final tally coming in at 7:26 p.m.
It took Broward County a little longer, the Broward Supervisor of Elections released the county’s final count at 9:45 p.m.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial results from Collier and Broward showed Hudson winning with 56 percent of the vote to McDonald’s 44 percent.
According to Gary Beauchamp, deputy supervisor of elections in Collier, Collier’s final tally will be certified at 10 a.m. today.
About 7.6 percent of registered voters in House District 101 went to the polls Tuesday.
Once again the low turnout played a major role in the outcome.
Of the 57,611 eligible voters in Collier, 5,989 — or 10.4 percent— voted in the election. Meanwhile in Broward, 1,291 — or 3.4 percent— of the 37,960 eligible voters cast ballots.
Linda McDonald
“It took them (Broward) a while to get those three precincts,” said Hudson, after the final numbers were announced in Broward on Tuesday.
Hudson decided to change up his election night tradition and spent the general election night with family, friends and volunteers at VIP Realty’s Vanderbilt office, 2210 Vanderbilt Beach Road Suite 1100. He had waited for the Oct. 30 primary results at home.
“I spent the time thanking and recognizing a lot of volunteers,” Hudson said.
Hudson won in Collier by 1,194 votes and credited his overall victory to hard work.
“Now, it’s a whole new ball game,” he said, chalking. “I’m looking forward to serving in the Florida House and representing the district.”
Hudson will fill out the rest of Davis’ term, which expires at the end of 2008.
Both candidates said that the truncated campaign, a five-week primary jaunt for the Republicans and a three-week campaign for the general election, made for an interesting trail.
Throughout the campaign Hudson touted his experience as a fire commissioner and his decades as a Realtor, youth umpire and community activist.
He got strong support from Realtors from throughout the state.
For her part, McDonald said that even though she didn’t win, her campaign saw the results as a turning point in Collier’s long-time Republican dominance in politics.
“I was absolutely delighted with getting 40 percent in Collier County, which is traditionally such a Republican district,” said McDonald, after the election, from her campaign’s party at the Comfort Inn, 3860 Tollgate Blvd. “We are making a huge change in Collier County. The dynamics here are definitely changing.”
It was the first campaign for McDonald, a deacon and church elder in the Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church, and member of various environmental and social justice organizations.
And what she learned on the campaign trail was something, McDonald said, she wouldn’t trade.
“It was a remarkable experience,” she said.
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