Deutch wins primary in landslide; Lynch declares victory, but facing possible recount

After all the votes were tallied, Florida Senator Ted Deutch was declared the definite winner of the Democratic nomination for Congressional District 19, but it will take a recount effort to officially determine the Republican nominee. On Tuesday, voters in Broward and Palm Beach went to the polls for a primary election to determine the nominees in the race to replace former Congressman Robert Wexler who resigned effective January 2010 to become president of the Center for Middle East Peace.Republican candidate Ed Lynch went up against Joe Budd and Curt Price, and the race between Lynch and Budd was neck and neck in Palm Beach, with only a half-percent difference in the votes.

While it appears Lynch won the seat by 37 votes (the final tally was 3,320 to 3,383), Palm Beach County has not yet included provisional ballots in the final total, though Lynch clearly won in Broward County by about five percent. If the final tally is less than a .5 percent margin, a recount will be necessary.

Despite the possibility of a recount, Lynch declared victory late Tuesday night.

“Now is the time for unity as a Party as we advance our agenda, our principles, and our ideas that we believe are essential for restoring individual liberty and fiscal responsibility back to our federal government,” said Lynch. “The voters of Congressional District 19 will have a clear choice in the Special Election- a choice between a committed taxpayer’s advocate who believes in limited government, cutting wasteful congressional perks, and enacting real healthcare reform that respects patient’s rights; and the Democratic establishment’s candidate- a candidate who falls squarely in line with the Obama agenda, still supporting a government takeover of the health insurance industry, and seemingly clueless about under what circumstances job creation will actually take place in the private sector in South Florida.  We shall see just how supportive the voters of District 19 are of reckless, big-government policies that restrict patient choice, harm small businesses, and stifle job creation.”

On the other hand, Deutch, who won with almost 85 percent of the Democratic vote is the favored son to win, and has been acknowledged by Wexler as his choice to take his seat. Deutch was running against Coral Springs resident Ben Graber.

“I am thrilled to announce that I have just been named the winner of the Democratic Primary for the special congressional election for District 19. I am so grateful to the voters of Palm Beach and Broward Counties for this overwhelming victory,” said Deutch, after winning the Democratic primary.

The general election is April 13. Deutch and Lynch will face off with competition from Jim McCormick, an independent candidate.

Related posts:

1. Deutch wins congressional seat
2. Early voting starts today in primary to replace Wexler in Congress
3. Congressional candidate Lynch disputes Deutch endorsement
4. Election dates to replace Wexler set
5. Lynch asking gov’s office to change election date due to Passover

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Posted by Andrea Freygang on Feb 3 2010. Filed under Broward County, Coral Springs, Federal Government, Local news, National politics, Palm Beach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry