tampa election runoff results: liveblogging

March 28, 2007 | Jim Johnson | Leave your thoughts!

I decided to live blog the runoff election results – mostly because it was so much fun to do the first time.

PoHo has a report that turnout would be around 14% – about the same as for the primary.

7:07 pm - Miller takes the early lead with the early voters, by an almost two-to-one margin: 61.4% to 38.6%. Caetano has a slightly larger lead at 66% to 34%. More than 4,700 votes were cast city-wide, almost 800 of them in District 7.

City Council, District 1
0 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	61.42%	2,891
Joe Redner	38.58%	1,816
		4,707
City Council, District 7
0 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	65.97%	508
Frank J. Margarella	34.03%	262
		770

7:19 pm - The votes get closer. Miller’s lead down to just 57.3% to 43.7% over Redner. Caetano is down to 59% to 41% over Margarella.

City Council, District 1
0 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	57.28%	4,899
Joe Redner	42.72%	3,653
		8,552
City Council, District 7
0 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	59.08%	872
Frank J. Margarella	40.92%	604
		1476

7:42 pm – Miller’s lead holds, no new precincts in District 7. Only a few more votes since last report, two precincts around Busch Boulevard have been completed.

City Council, District 1
2 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	57.24%	4,995
Joe Redner	42.76%	3,731
		8,726
City Council, District 7
0 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	59.08%	872
Frank J. Margarella	40.92%	604
		1476

7:52 pm – Miller’s lead holding. Caetano’s lead increasing slightly. 8 Precincts now in, 1 in District 7.

City Council, District 1
8 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	57.50%	5,594
Joe Redner	42.50%	4,134
		9,728
City Council, District 7
1 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	60.62%	1,136
Frank J. Margarella	39.38%	738
		1,874

8:02 pm - Caetano is firming up his lead. With 8 of the 19 precincts reporting, I’m gonna go ahead and call this one for Caetano. Likewise, Miller’s lead seems to be pretty solid – but a big chunk of East Tampa just came in, and both West and South Tampa are still out there.

City Council, District 1
25 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	59.37%	7,133
Joe Redner	40.63%	4,881
		12,014
City Council, District 7
8 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	63.00%	1,868
Frank J. Margarella	37.00%	1,097
		2,965

8:13 pm - Well, a small handful of South and West Tampa precincts came in, and Miller’s lead actually rose! Caetano slipped a little but leads significantly with more than half of the precincts in. Miller already has more votes in the runoff than she received in the primary.

City Council, District 1
41 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	59.42%	8,436
Joe Redner	40.58%	5,761
		14,197
City Council, District 7
11 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	61.46%	2,076
Frank J. Margarella	38.54%	1,302
		3,378

8:26 pm - Two more precincts are complete. And some votes are coming from more West Tampa precincts. It may be safe to say that Miller’s lead looks insurmountable.

City Council, District 1
43 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	59.47%	8,735
Joe Redner	40.53%	5,954
		14,689
City Council, District 7
12 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	60.35%	2,177
Frank J. Margarella	39.65%	1,430
		3,607

8:32 pm - We’re now more than halfway, and Miller’s lead did shrink a little more. Forest Hills still hasn’t come in, and South and West Tampa are about halfway completed. East Tampa has one more precinct to complete. New Tampa is finished.

City Council, District 1
66 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	58.12%	10,891
Joe Redner	41.88%	7,848
		18,739
City Council, District 7
13 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	60.42%	2,244
Frank J. Margarella	39.58%	1,470
		3,714

8:42 pm – Redner is chipping away… but in really small amounts. With about 2/3rds of the precincts, it is safe to say that Gwen Miller will be re-elected. No new votes in District 7.

City Council, District 1
76 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	57.64%	11,603
Joe Redner	42.36%	8,526
		20,129
City Council, District 7
13 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	60.42%	2,244
Frank J. Margarella	39.58%	1,470
		3,714

8:52 pm - District 7 is complete. Joseph Caetano is the winner! Almost all of the precincts are complete (92 of 112), Miller’s lead has not wavered much all night.

Interesting fact: 388 more voters in District 7 cast a ballot today than voted in the primary. Must have been the free coffee.

City Council, District 1
92 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	57.61%	12,623
Joe Redner	42.39%	9,287
		21,910
City Council, District 7
19 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	59.54%	2,589
Frank J. Margarella	40.46%	1,759
		4,348

9:02 pm - The results are in. Gwen Miller has won re-election to the City Council. There were 297 more votes cast in this election than the total cast in District 1’s primary. Almost as many as were cast in the Mayoral election (91 votes short).

Turnout was indeed higher.

City Council, District 1
112 of 112 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Gwendolyn ”Gwen” Miller	56.47%	15,383
Joe Redner	43.53%	11,587
		27,240
City Council, District 7
19 of 19 Precincts Completely Reporting
	Percent	Votes
Joseph P. Caetano	59.54%	2,589
Frank J. Margarella	40.46%	1,759
		4,348