HOLMES BEACH – Election Day is coming to a close and a new mayor and new commissioners will take the dais at the city’s organizational meeting Nov. 19.
Former commissioner and newly-elected Mayor Judy Titsworth took home 79.3 percent of the vote with political newcomer Joshua Linney bringing in 20.7 percent. Though he’s never served on the dais, Linney was previously a member of the city’s parks and beautification committee.
In the commission race, Commissioner Pat Morton was re-elected, bringing in 36 percent of the votes. Morton was first elected to the commission in 2003. This will be his eighth term.
The new commissioner on the dais will be Kim Rash who ended election night with 36 percent of the vote. Though Rash is no stranger to local politics, this will be his first term as commissioner.
Landing in the third spot is political newcomer and local real estate agent Don Purvis, who ended the night with 28 percent of the vote, just shutting him out of claiming one of the two available commission seats.
In the race for one of five positions on the newly-formed charter review board, eight candidates threw their hats in the ring – Jay Calhoun, Claudia Carlson, Nancy Deal, Major Leckie, Sean Murphy, Johnny Rigney, Edward Upshaw and David Zaccagnino. The five who will be reviewing the city’s charter and determining what issues to place in front of voters in November 2019 as charter amendments are Claudia Carlson, Nancy Deal, Sean Murphy, Edward Upshaw and David Zaccagnino, the five candidates who brought in the majority of resident votes.
According to the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, there are 2,810 registered voters across two precincts in Holmes Beach. Out of that number, 1003 voted either in person or by mail, representing 35.7 percent of eligible voters.
