TOP STORY, April: Turner, Atwell win runoff

Throughout the holiday week, YourObserver.com will be counting down the top 12 stories of 2009 (one from each month) from our Longboat, East County and Sarasota Observers. Check back each day fro a reprinting — and any relevant updates — of the biggest news items of the year.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED April 16, 2009

Terry Turner swept into City Hall by claiming more than half of the city’s 27 voting precincts in the April 14 City Commission runoff election.

“It’s great,” Turner said. “Before I was tense, now I’m relaxed.”

Suzanne Atwell took the second of two at-large City Commission seats, edging Paul Caragiulo by just 109 votes.

“I’ve been nervous all day,” Atwell said. “It’s a relief. Now I can get to work.”

Turner, who had a large base of support from neighborhood groups, collected the most votes in 14 of the precincts. His largest support base was in Precinct 49, where he garnered 44% of the vote. Precinct 49 includes the waterfront neighborhoods of Indian Beach, Sapphire Shores and Tahiti Park. Turner’s weakest support base was Precinct 153, which is in the north Sarasota neighborhood of Amaryllis Park. He only received 15% of the vote there.

Precinct 153 gave Atwell her largest victory percentage, although she only received 10 votes there. But that was enough to give her 50% of that precinct. During the campaign, Atwell made it a point to talk about her involvement in north Sarasota neighborhoods, such as Amaryllis Park.

Atwell’s poorest showing was in Precinct 5, where she received 28% of the vote. Precinct 5 is a large area that includes the Alta Vista, Arlington Park and Towles Court neighborhoods.

Caragiulo won five precincts. His highest vote percentage, 37%, came in Precinct 1, which encompasses much of downtown. His weakest area of support was in Precinct 49, where he received 23% of the vote.

BOX
CITY ELECTION RESULTS
Precinct             Turner                 Atwell                    Caragiulo
1                           254                      306                            328
3                           61                         55                              56
5                          109                        72                              78
10                         30                         27                              21
11                         198                      190                             220
13                        242                       195                            216
14                        196                       156                            193
18                         83                         56                               50
24                         99                          96                            102
31                         46                          57                              25
37                        127                        132                            116
41                         93                           67                             73
49                         411                        305                            219
70                        147                        159                            146
75                         31                           20                              17
76                         34                           37                              22
77                         43                           32                              28
94                        251                         246                           181
100                       73                           83                              64
103                       52                           58                              57
110                      100                          76                              80
119                       15                           18                              12
136                       48                           40                              53
146                       49                           72                              66
147                     289                          262                            285
148                       81                           62                              65
153                        3                            10                               7
Total votes       3,165                       2,889                         2,780

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].