Voter Apathy in Special Primary Election

Cedar Key voters for the most part stayed home during the June 5 Special Primary Election. The election was called to elect candidates for the Senate District 3 seat vacated recently by Nancy Argenziano. Only about one sixth of registered voters came to the polling place.

Republican voters cast 23 votes for Dennis Baxley, 17 votes for Don Curtis and 18 votes for Charles Dean. However, Dean won on a District-wide basis, drawing 9794 votes to 2404 for Curtis and 9416 for Baxley.

In the Democratic Primary, in Cedar Key, Susan Franks, with 35 votes beat Mark Ravenscraft who had 20 votes. On a District-wide basis, Franks fared even better, with 6086 votes to Ravencraft's 3271.

The Republican Primary was marked by massive and derogatory literature and e-mail attacks. The General Election for the Senate seat is June 26. Two candidates who eschewed party affiliation will be write-ins along with Democrat Susan Franks and Republican Charles Dean.