Three votes split the Escambia County Commission District 4 race, so the county recounts it Saturday. Boyce White and Sherri Myers win City Council seats.

Three votes separate the two candidates for Escambia County Commission District 4 after Tuesday’s election. The county canvassing board will recount the race Saturday, Nov. 7.

Ashlee Hofberger, a Republican, has 13,020 votes. Joe Vinson, who has no party affiliation, has 13,017. That is 50.01% to 49.99% of the 26,037 votes cast in the race. The figures are from the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections’ unofficial results, with all 80 precincts counted.

In the city, Boyce White won the Pensacola City Council District 4 seat and Sherri Myers won District 2. Voters also backed the county’s one-cent sales tax question by about three to one.

All results are unofficial until the canvassing board certifies them.

The District 4 recount

The Supervisor of Elections posted a conditional recount notice on Wednesday. It sets out these steps:

  • Friday, Nov. 6, 9:15 a.m.: ballots from the District 4 precincts are sorted ahead of the recount.
  • Saturday, Nov. 7, 9:15 a.m.: the canvassing board meets to recount the race.

Both take place at the Supervisor of Elections Warehouse and Training Center, 3201 W. Navy Blvd. Canvassing board meetings are open to the public, the office’s schedule says.

The board is chaired by County Judge Scott Ritchie. Its other members are Supervisor of Elections Robert D. Bender and City Council member Jennifer Brahier.

Florida law calls for a machine recount when the margin is half a percentage point or less, under section 102.141 of the state election code. A manual review of overvotes and undervotes follows at a quarter of a point or less, under section 102.166. The District 4 gap is about one-hundredth of a point.

The count can still move before the recount. The board’s schedule has it processing provisional ballots and mail ballots that voters fixed, or “cured,” at 3 p.m. Thursday. Ballots from overseas and military voters that arrive by Friday, Nov. 13, are counted that day, and the board plans to certify the official results the same day.

Pensacola City Council

Both city races are nonpartisan.

Race Winner Votes Runner-up Votes
District 2 Sherri Myers 1,348 (54.40%) Charles Bare 1,130 (45.60%)
District 4 Boyce White 1,851 (51.47%) Brian Cole 1,745 (48.53%)

White’s margin is 106 votes across the district’s three precincts. Myers won by 218 votes across two precincts.

Escambia County races

Race Winner Votes Runner-up Votes
County Commission District 2 Mike Kohler (R) 10,034 (56.18%) Mathious D. Robinson (D) 7,770 (43.50%)
ECUA District 2 Lois Benson (R) 10,201 (58.23%) Gloria G. Horning (IND) 7,318 (41.77%)
ECUA District 4 Greg Litton (R) 14,016 (53.56%) Jacob Cavender (D) 10,629 (40.62%)

County Commission District 4, with Hofberger and Vinson three votes apart, is being recounted (see above).

In the ECUA District 4 race, Ralph H. Schofield Jr., with no party affiliation, had 1,524 votes, or 5.82%. In County Commission District 2, write-ins took 58 votes. ECUA is the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, which runs the area’s water, sewer and trash service.

The sales tax question

The county referendum on the one-cent sales tax passed easily in Escambia:

  • For: 84,178 votes (74.96%)
  • Against: 28,123 votes (25.04%)

State House

These are the Escambia County votes in the two state House races on the county’s ballot.

  • District 1: Michelle Salzman (R) 37,941 (59.59%), Francesca Yabraian (D) 25,727 (40.41%)
  • District 2: Jon Fay (R) 26,988 (52.54%), Johnny Austin Thompson (D) 24,382 (47.46%)

How Escambia voted statewide

Statewide races are decided by votes across Florida. In Escambia County:

  • Governor: Byron Donalds (R) 53.99%, David Jolly (D) 44.33%
  • U.S. Senate: Ashley Moody (R) 54.28%, Angie Nixon (D) 44.53%
  • U.S. House District 1: Jimmy Patronis (R) 53.16%, Gay Valimont (D) 45.09%

Escambia voters said no to Amendment 1, 53.80% to 46.20%. They backed Amendment 2 with 65.19% and Amendment 3 with 65.95%. A state constitutional amendment needs 60% of the vote statewide to pass, under Article XI, section 5 of the Florida Constitution.

Turnout

Of 206,355 registered voters in Escambia County, 116,510 cast a ballot, a turnout of 56.46%.

What it means for you

  • District 4 is not settled. Neither Hofberger nor Vinson can claim the seat until the recount is done and the board certifies the result.
  • You can watch. The sorting Friday and the recount Saturday are at 3201 W. Navy Blvd. from 9:15 a.m. If you need a disability accommodation, call the elections office at 850-595-3900, or TDD 850-595-3913, the notice says.
  • Find your district. The elections office has precinct and district maps. Our voting page has the office’s address and phone numbers.

We will update this story when the recount is done.