Mailers urging residents to vote for candidates, from Congress to local races, packed mailboxes this past election season. And some races even got testy as a result. The 2020 election season was one to remember, from the presidential race all the way down to the race for county commission, which saw a bit of an upset. Here are some of the top stories from the 2020 election.
MOONEY WINS PRIMARY, DEFEATS BARRAS FOR STATE REP
A testy Republican primary that saw scores of attack mailers highlighted the 2020 race for state representative. One of the main targets was longtime resident Jim Mooney, who ended up winning during the general election to represent the Keys and south Miami-Dade in Tallahassee. Mailers also went out accusing candidate Rhonda Rebman Lopez of taking money from the Nicholas Maduro regime. And Alexandria Suarez was the subject of controversy over a text attack against Mooney from a PAC that appeared to support her. Suarez said her camp didn’t send anything out, and that the disclaimer in the text was inaccurate and fraudulent to make it look like she was the one behind it. When all was said and done, Mooney secured the primary victory on Aug. 18 with 44% of the vote in Monroe County and 18% of the vote in Miami-Dade. Mooney went on to beat Democrat Clint Barras in the Nov. 3 general election, having garnered 57% of the vote in Monroe County and 52% of the vote in Miami-Dade.
MARTINEZ UPSETS CARRUTHERS IN COUNTY COMMISSION RACE
It was the upset of the election as Republican newcomer Eddie Martinez defeated Democrat incumbent Heather Carruthers for Monroe County Commission’s seat 3. The race was too close to call on Election Night, leading to a recount that ended with Martinez still the winner. Martinez received 23,210 votes while Carruthers garnered 23,078 votes. While the results were in Martinez’s favor, it didn’t end there. On Nov. 23, a lawsuit filed by Carruthers against Martinez, the supervisor of elections and canvassing board claimed that Martinez didn’t live in the district on Election Day. Therefore, he would be ineligible to hold office. The case, filed in circuit court in Key West, is pending.
CRUISE SHIP REFERENDUM PASSES; LAWSUITS EXPECTED
Key West voters handily approved three changes to the city’s charter that will significantly reduce the number of cruise ships and people that can visit Key West once the industry again gets underway. The amendment limiting the number of people who can disembark from cruise ships each day in Key West passed with 63% approval. The amendment prohibiting ships with a capacity of 1,300 or more people passed with 61% approval and the amendment giving priority to cruise lines with the best health and environmental records secured an 81% approval. So, what’s next? Well, lawsuits are anticipated. And what about the privately owned cruise ship dock at Pier B, behind Margaritaville Key West Resort & Marina? The owners of that facility have joined one existing lawsuit that questions the city’s authority to mandate costly reductions to its business operations and officials expect them to file their own suit. In addition, several local businesses that depend on revenue from cruise ships and their passengers also had retained the Horan Law Firm to represent them even before voters approved the amendments on Nov. 3.
