Watson declared winner over Julien with 13-vote margin in House 107 race

In what is likely to be the closest outcome of any legislative race this season, Miami Gardens Rep. Barbara Watson edged out North Miami Beach Rep. John Patrick Julien in the contest for House District 107 by a narrow 13 votes, according to a manual recount Saturday by Miami Dade County officials.

Watson and Julien, both freshmen Democrats, were drawn into the same district during the painful redistricting process last session that pitted a handful of incumbents into the same districts because of new redistricting rules.

Because the margin was so narrow, state election officials ordered a manual recount by 3 p.m. Sunday. Watson now faces two write-in candidates in the November general election.

Watson's victory came despite Julien's nearly three-to-one fundraising advantage.  Watson, a former vice mayor of Miami Gardens and a member of the city council, raised and spent about $30,000 while Julien, a former member of the North Miami Beach city council raised nearly $107,000 and spent $82,000 by the last report.

The Watson-Julien match-up was only one of three recounts ordered by the Florida Division of Elections last week. State Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, also appears to have won a narrow 17-vote victory over Rep. Mack Bernard, D-West Palm Beach, in a Senate District 27 recount. And in north central Florida, Avon Park physician Cary Pigman appears to have defeated former Rep. Randy Johnson, after a machine recount found him 34 votes ahead.

The Florida Democratic Party sent out a statement congratulating Watson on Saturday but Division of Elections spokesman Chris Cate could not confirm the results.

A recount report filed by the Miami Dade Division of Elections late Saturday and posted on the county web site Sunday, showed that Watson received 50.06 percent of the 10,551 votes cast, or 5,282 votes, while Julien won 5,269 votes or 49.94 percent. Download Hse107-recount

Both candidates relied on absentee voteres for nearly one fifth of their total. There were 1,111 absentee ballots cast for Watson and 1,037 for Julien.

Comments

[Congressman Hamster]

One less Haitian in our Government! That's GOOD NEWS!

[angie]

Never heard of these people.

[William E. Foote]

Angie maybe you can't or don't read!

[William E. Foote]

Congressman Hamster, its that a little jingoistic. do you say the same thing about Cubans or Jews or even Italians? I bet you even say that about Englishman, Irish and Scots? I bet you don't say those kinda things about your own kind (hamster, mice, gerbils, rats and other rodents)?

[paul]

Sheap shot congressman raccoun. Please raise the bar intellectualy