This Florida Keys race is so close that a recount is ordered to determine the winner
A recount is set Thursday for a Florida Keys race in which a Republican challenger says he rode the “red wave” that swept through Monroe County on Tuesday to oust a 12-year incumbent Democrat.
Tuesday night ended with election results showing Eddie Martinez, the Republican, won 50.15% of the vote while Commissioner Heather Carruthers took 49.85%.
Carruthers became a national figure this year, thrust into the spotlight as the Keys mayor, a position the commissioners take turns holding. She has gone on Facebook Live several times to field questions from the public and give updates on COVID-19 issues as the Keys closed down to visitors and then gradually reopened.
Tuesday’s Keys elections results showed Martinez winning by 141 votes in a race that drew more than 46,000 voters.
That slim margin means a mandatory recount, said Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Joyce Griffin.
“We’re going to put all the ballots through the machine,” Griffin said.
In Florida, if a candidate for any office loses by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast, a machine recount is ordered.
The Monroe County Canvassing Board oversees the recount, which will take place at Griffin’s office at 530 Whitehead St., No. 101 in Key West. It will start at 9 a.m. and the process is open to the public.
“I’ll be setting up TVs outside because of COVID,” Griffin said.
If the results of the machine recount are less than a 1/4 of 1% difference between the candidates, a manual recount of blank and overvoted ballots will be conducted immediately following the recount, Griffin said.
“You look for human error,” Griffin said
An overvote is when someone votes for more than one candidate in a race.
But as of Wednesday, only a machine recount has been scheduled.
Carruthers, a Key West Democrat who used to run a guest house on the island, is in her third four-year term.
Martinez, the Republican, is a professional surveyor and mapper who has never held office before.
Martinez didn’t return a call for comment Wednesday but on Tuesday night he said, “I am still in shock. I can’t wait to serve the county.”
Martinez attributed his win “to the red wave that came through Monroe County.”
On Wednesday, Carruthers said she wasn’t conceding.
“Not until we’ve gone through the recount,” said Carruthers, who has held the District 3 post since 2008.
She said her stance on people wearing masks in public may have hurt her at the polls. But she agreed with Martinez about the “red wave” phenomenon.
“I’m disappointed in general,” Carruthers said. “We seem to have just moved to a tribal mentality when it comes to elections in many places. It’s sad for our democracy. I hoped that the national stuff would stay national and not come to the Keys.”
Carruthers said it was difficult to campaign during the coronavirus pandemic.
“There were no events to attend up the Keys,” Carruthers said. “Clearly it wasn’t about individuals, it was just about parties.”
As for her position on COVID-19 restrictions, Carruthers stood by her decisions like her pro-mask position.
“It was for the best health of our residents and for the economy.”
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
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