For the first time in Florida history, a primary has been held for a third party. The nomination in question was for State House District 33. Long-time candidate Franklin Perez, who ran for the same seat as an NPA [no party affilation] candidate in 2006 and 2008, ran against Ellen Paul, a recent convert from the Republican Party.
Perez won the race with 72% to Paul’s 28%, according to the Florida Division of Elections website. However, the number of voters was small, with 49 votes for Perez and 19 for Paul as of the time of this posting. The total number of Libertarians in the district is 181. This indicates a turnout for the primary of about 37.6%.
Perez has had a rocky history with the local Libertarian party, so it is no surprise that the race was contentious. The Seminole Chronicle reported in February:
[Ellen Paul] also lives in Apopka – which isn’t in District 33 – but said she will move if she’s elected. State law only requires candidates to live in their districts after they are elected.
This has led Perez to call her a “fake candidate” and accuse the Seminole County Libertarian Party of personally attacking him.
He said he first garnered the ire of the Libertarian Party when the press published “anti-Hispanic remarks” by former Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Clifford.
In April 2004, Clifford sent an e-mail to Perez saying, “Your Hispanic nature appears to start creating conflict. … Being machismo does not serve you and it slows your progress. (It works when it serves to scare away your opponent, but we are not your opponents).”
Perez broke with the party and wanted a condemnation motion against Clifford, which he never got.
Oddly enough, five years after the e-mail, the exchange made it into Orlando Weekly and the Orlando Sentinel. When reached by telephone Thursday, Perez’s first words about Paul entering the race were, “The knuckleheads decided to run someone against me.”
“The real reason is they basically have it in against me because I exposed the anti-Hispanic remarks, and it finally made the English language edition of the Sentinel and the Orlando Weekly,” Perez said.
I have been unable to locate the percentage of the vote Perez took in his past runs for the seat in 2006 and 2008.
There were not over 100 votes cast.