Escambia County primary election, 2008

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Various county-wide elected offices, three of five Escambia County Commission and ECUA seats, various Circuit Court judgeships, and two Escambia County School Board seats will be contested in elections to be held in 2008. Primary elections were held on August 26, 2008, with elected candidates proceeding to the general election, to be held November 4.

Incumbents are marked by (i).

County-wide offices[edit]

Escambia County Sheriff[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP David Morgan 13,565 56.7%
REP Ron McNesby (i) 10,354 43.3%

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Larry Scapecchi 10,765 65.4%
DEM Samuel E. Lucas 5,686 34.6%

Superintendent of Schools[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP Malcolm Thomas

Republicans Jim Paul, the incumbent, as well as Ronnie Arnold and Alan Scott, pre-filed for the race but later withdrew. As no other Republican candidates qualified, Malcolm Thomas advanced by default to the general election.

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Claudia Brown-Curry 9,256 54.8%
DEM Cary Stidham 4,741 28.1%
DEM Myra L. Simmons 2,880 17.1%

Elected by default[edit]

Clerk of the Circuit Court[edit]

REP Ernie Lee Magaha (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Magaha was reelected by default.

Property Appraiser[edit]

DEM Chris Jones (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Jones was reelected by default.

Tax Collector[edit]

DEM Janet Holley (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Holley was reelected by default.

Supervisor of Elections[edit]

REP David H. Stafford (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Stafford was reelected by default.

Escambia County Commission[edit]

District 1[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP Wilson Robertson 4,752 80.8%
REP Mike Whitehead (i) 1,129 19.2%

Republican John D. Dale pre-filed for the race but later withdrew.

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Stephen M. Davidson

As no other Democratic candidates qualified, Stephen M. Davidson advanced by default to the general election.

District 3[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP Jacob Pawelski

As no other Republican candidates qualified, Jacob Pawelski advanced by default to the general election.

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Marie K. Young (i) 3,391 62.3%
DEM Judy Cook 945 17.4%
DEM Russ Swinney 685 12.6%
DEM Rev. Clinton E. Powell, Sr. 423 7.8%

Democrats Hugh G. King, Sr. and Gerald McKenzie pre-filed for the race but later withdrew.

Third-party and unaffiliated candidates[edit]

NPA John R. "Dooley" Johnson

As a candidate unaffiliated with a political party, John R. "Dooley" Johnson advanced automatically to the general election.

District 5[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP Kevin W. White (i) 3,655 57.5%
REP Packy Mitchell 1,668 26.2%
REP Chris Washler 541 8.5%
REP Randall E. McCrackin 492 7.7%

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Jim Barnett 1,690 51.5%
DEM John F. Hartman 1,594 48.5%

Democrat Georgette Harris pre-filed for the race but later withdrew.

Third-party and unaffiliated candidates[edit]

Aaron M. Schmidt (no party affiliation) pre-filed for the race but later withdrew.

Emerald Coast Utilities Authority[edit]

District 1[edit]

Universal primary[edit]

As the only candidates to qualify were Republican, this race was a "universal primary" in which voters of all party affiliations were entitled to vote, and the winner of the race was elected without the need to run in the general election.

REP Elizabeth S. Campbell 3,688 43.2%
REP Logan Fink (i) 3,417 40.0%
REP Harlan Jennings 1,431 16.8%

District 3[edit]

Republican primary[edit]

REP Joshua Joscelyn

As no other Republican candidates qualified, Joshua Joscelyn advanced by default to the general election.

Democratic primary[edit]

DEM Elvin McCorvey (i) 3,862 72.9%
DEM Benell English 1,434 27.1%

District 5[edit]

Universal primary[edit]

As the only candidates to qualify were Republican, this race was a "universal primary" in which voters of all party affiliations were entitled to vote, and the winner of the race was elected without the need to run in the general election.

REP Larry Walker (i) 7,459 76.1%
REP Barry B. Tweedie 2,338 23.9%

Escambia County School Board[edit]

Escambia County School Board seats are non-partisan and unlike other nonpartisan offices are contested at the time of the partisan primaries. In the event that no candidate in a School Board race does not receive a majority of votes cast, the top two candidates proceed to a run-off contested at the time of the general election.

District 3[edit]

Claudia Brown-Curry resigned this seat effective November 18, 2008 in order to run for Escambia County Superintendent of Schools. This triggered an election to fill the remainder of her term, which expires in 2010.

Linda F. Moultrie 3,413 51.7%
LuTimothy May 3,183 48.3%

Lawrence Powell and Ellison Bennett both pre-filed for the race but did not qualify.

District 4[edit]

Patty Hightower (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Hightower was reelected by default.

District 5[edit]

Bill Slayton 3,684 35.2%
Tom Harrell 3,227 30.8%
Peter R. Gindl, Sr. (i) 2,497 23.8%
Robert Tegenkamp 1,064 10.2%

Rick Lambert pre-filed for the race, but later withdrew.

Escambia County Soil & Water Conservation Board[edit]

Seats on the Soil & Water Conservation Board are non-partisan.

District 1[edit]

Anne B. Bennett (i)

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Bennett was reelected by default.

District 2[edit]

Greg Fink resigned this seat effective November 4, 2008, to run for State Representative, District 2. This triggered an election to fill the remainder of his term, which expires in 2010.

Richard Pope

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Pope was elected by default.

District 3[edit]

Richard W. Freisinger

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Freisinger was elected by default.

District 5[edit]

Marvino J. Allen
Clifford "Cliff" Fiveash
Dillon M. Powell

Santa Rosa Island Authority[edit]

One member of this board is elected; the rest are appointed by members of the Escambia County Commission. Seats are nonpartisan.

Thomas Campanella

As no other candidates qualified for the office, Campanella was reelected by default.

See also[edit]