Clapp, Caragiulo head to recount

After counting 3,425 ballots in the District 2 City Commission race, just 0.3% separated incumbent Dick Clapp and his challenger, Paul Caragiulo.

State law mandates any result under 0.5% be subject to a recount.

Caragiulo said he knew the race would be close, just not as tight as it was.

“I thought it would come down to within 200 votes,” he said.

Caragiulo received 1,718 votes to Clapp’s 1,707.

Thirteen provisional ballots that were not part of that total were to be counted Thursday afternoon.

The recount was scheduled to take place Friday morning.

If the candidates are 0.25% apart after the recount, then a manual recount of the overvotes and undervotes would be ordered.

Overvotes are people voting for both candidates, and undervotes are people voting for neither candidate.

Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent said overvotes and undervotes are less likely in races with two candidates.

An analysis of the precinct-by-precinct results shows Caragiulo taking six of 10 precincts and Clapp capturing four.

Caragiulo received the most votes, 300, in Precinct 1, which is generally downtown from Orange Avenue to the Ringling Bridge and Main Street to 10th Street. Clapp got 189 votes there.

Caragiulo was also strong in Precinct 11, south of Hyde Park Street and west of Tamiami Trail, and in Precinct 147, which is Osprey Avenue west to the bayfront and Main Street south to Hudson Bayou.

Clapp’s highest vote total, 383, came from Precinct 49, which is in his Indian Beach/Sapphire Shores neighborhood. Caragiulo received 208 votes in that precinct.

The incumbent’s second-largest margin of victory, 64 votes, came in Precinct 94 — from Bird Key to St. Armands Key.

Clapp won Precinct 13 by 54 votes. That precinct encompasses Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Otter Key and City Island.

With four candidates in District 1, it was expected that the race would come down to a runoff election.

Willie Shaw was the top vote-getter with 414 votes, or 42%. He’ll face Linda Holland in the May 10 runoff.
Holland received 218 votes, or 22%.

She was followed by Richard Dorfman, with 201 votes, and Frederick Williams, with 162 votes.

Thirty-four percent of Shaw’s votes came from Precinct 31, which is in North Sarasota, from 17th Street to Myrtle Street.

Holland’s votes were more evenly distributed, but the most she received, 53, was in Precinct 10, which is mostly made up of her Gillespie Park neighborhood.

Shannon Snyder avoided a runoff in District 3 by taking 56% of the vote on Election Day.

He received 703 votes, compared to 463 for Diana Hamilton and 88 for Pete Theisen.

To view a PDF chart comparing the votes for Caragiulo and Clapp by precinct, click here.

To view pie charts displaying the election results, click here.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected]