- May 2, 2024
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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].