Two Villagers officially have been elected to the Sumter County Commission after their write-in opponents dropped out of the general election.
In June, Wahl raised eyebrows when he quietly filed to run as a write-in in the race in which Burgess was facing challenger Craig Estep in the GOP primary. The following day, Prince filed to run in the Republican contest in which Steve Printz was being challenged by the eventual victor, Village of Sanibel resident Oren Miller.
The write-in candidates’ entry into the race eliminated 45,000 Sumter County Democratic and No Party Affiliation voters from participating in the balloting in that contest.
Far from cinching victories for Burgess and Printz, the write-in candidacies enraged voters, with droves of Democrats and No Party Affiliation voters contacting the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Office to switch their registration so they could participate in the closed GOP primary. Estep and Miller both celebrated landslide victories in the Aug. 18 election. With the withdrawal of Wahl and Prince, Estep and Miller face a clear path to victory in November. On Tuesday, Supervisor of Elections Bill Keen officially declared Estep and Miller had been “elected.”
Villager Gary Search, who last week defeated incumbent Commissioner Al Butler in the GOP primary, will face NPA candidate Larry Green in November.
Estep, Miller and the winner of the Search-Green contest will take their seats on the commission after they are sworn in at a commission meeting set for the second Tuesday in November.