INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Republican Joe Negron handily won the special election for a Florida State Senate seat vacated by the resignation of veteran legislator Ken Pruitt.
Negron took a big early lead, and never looked back. Of the 1,978 votes cast by absentee ballot or in early voting, Negron, who served in the Florida House from 2000 to 2006, had received 1,806 votes or 91.3 percent and Democrat Bill Ramos of Jensen Beach had received 171 votes or 8.65 percent in Indian River County.
With all precincts in the five-county race reporting, Negron had 76.5 per cent of the total vote. The final tally was 33,539 votes for Negron, 10,260 votes for Ramos, and 53 for a write-in.
In Indian River County, only the 13,113 registered barrier island residents were eligible to vote in this special election,which was made necessary when Pruitt chose to vacate the office prior to the end of his term in November 2010.
Negron will be sworn in sometime before committee work begins in October and will join members of the Treasure Coast legislative delegation when they head to Tallahassee for the 2010 session in March. Then, should he choose to seek re-election, he will need to run again in November 2010.
Turnout as expected was low, with the timing of the special election hitting the barrier island at a time when many residents were away on vacation.