While the apparent national mood of “throw the bums out” resulted in sweeping changes in Congress and in states across the nation last month, Volusia County voters opted to maintain the status quo with party labels hidden with non-partisan races.
According to polls, voter anger appeared to be largely directed at huge government spending programs and the resulting unimaginable debt; growing and overreaching Federal government regulations and programs; and the addition of a new and costly health-care entitlement program over the protests of a majority of citizens at a time when existing entitlement programs are fiscally unsustainable.
The U.S. House of Representatives swung sharply from a strong Democratic Majority led by Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to a larger Republican Majority to be led by John Boehner (R-Ohio). With a 63 seat pick-up for the GOP, the results represented the most massive change in several generations.
The U.S. Senate moved six seats in the Republican direction, with Democrats still holding a slight majority, including 2 independents who caucus with them.
Among the states, election results were much the same. Twenty-nine states now have Republican governors and nineteen have Democrat Governors, a net increase of six for the GOP. The statehouse elections were even more dramatic, with Republicans gaining a total of 675 seats nationwide – 550 in state houses and 125 in state senates.
In Florida, newcomer Rick Scott squeaked by Democrat Alex Sink to hold the Governor’s seat in the Republican column while U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio trounced Gov. Charlie Crist, formerly a Republican but running as an Independent, and Democrat Congressman Kendrick Meek. All three Cabinet seats changed occupants because of term limits and Florida’s resign-to-run law, but all ended up in the GOP column despite well-known and well-funded Democrat contenders.
With a gain of five Republican seats in the House and two in the Senate, both chambers of the Florida Legislature are more soundly GOP than before. The House now is made up of 89 R’s and 39 D’s, while the Senate stands at 28 R’s to 12 D’s.
But locally? Volusia voters pretty much decided on business as usual despite many opportunities to make changes. Well-known Ormond Beach Mayor Fred Costello easily won the House seat formerly held by Pat Patterson over political newcomer Tim Huth. Representative Dorothy Hukill kept her current House seat for a 4th (and final) term, first leaving GOP newcomer Teresa Valdez in the dust in the primary and then running over a write-in candidate in the general election
The Volusia County Council maintained the same faces except one, despite four seats up for grabs. Joyce Cusack, previously a four-term Democrat member of the Florida House, gained the non-partisan at-large seat formerly held by Joie Alexander despite a spirited, well-run and well-financed race by Margie Patchett of Volusia Tax Reform. Joie Alexander moved from the at-large seat to the Council District 3 seat, winning over George Trovato, former Deltona City Attorney. Neither Patchett nor Trovato had ever run for or held political office.
Both incumbents, Pat Northey in District 5 and Andy Kelly in District 1, won the right to retain their offices in the August primaries.
The glaring difference in election results locally and nationally bring a few questions to mind, and surely there are many more to be asked beside the obvious that because the county races were non-partisan, party labels were hidden.
• Are Volusia County citizens happy with the status quo and see no reason for anything new or different?
• Do Volusia County voters value in-office experience over new ideas and new faces?
• Is name recognition more important than ideas and political positions locally?
• Are powerful forces at work within our county that support keeping people in office who they feel they can control?
• Did the focus on the Federal government and the intense arguments over the “stimulus” package, bailouts, national health care and the rise of the Tea Parties as an opposition movement overwhelm local issues and suck a lot of the political oxygen out of the air?
It would certainly be interesting to know if any of the above explains the outcomes or not. But the fact remains that in a year when change was in the national air, Volusia County seemed to have a protective shield around its atmosphere.