Two incumbent Sumter County commissioners have bought their way into the August primary after failing to collect enough voters’ signatures to earn a spot on the ballot.
Commissioners Don Burgess and Al Butler, both Villagers and both backed by the Developer of The Villages, have each paid the $3,534 fee to be placed on the ballot, after their failure to collect the necessary number of voters’ signatures, according to documents on file with the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Butler, who lives in the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter, paid the fee on May 26, four days after he loaned $4,000 to his own campaign.
Butler had been the subject of an urgent plea in April for online signatures issued on his behalf. The plea had been issued by the Republican Federated Women of The Villages and The Villages Republican Club.
Butler’s Republican primary opponent, Village of Amelia resident Gary Search, said he had “no trouble” collecting the necessary signatures. He did not need to pay the $3,534 fee. The former Pennsylvania township commissioner collected more than 1,000 signatures, exceeding the 965 signatures needed to place his name on the ballot.
Burgess, a resident of the Village of Bonnybrook, also paid the $3,534 fee on May 26 to secure a spot on the ballot. In February, Burgess loaned his campaign $4,000 and donated another $1,000. Burgess is facing a challenge from Villager Craig Estep, who was the first commission candidate to complete the signature-gathering process.
Sumter County commissioners earn more than $63,000 per year.
The incumbent commissioners have been dogged by anger over last year’s 25 percent property tax increase seen as a sweetheart deal for the Developer of The Villages.
Burgess, Butler and fellow incumbent Steve Printz were endorsed this week by the Sumter County Republican Party, which has pledged to financially support the trio.
