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White Ekes Out 3rd Term As Sheriff

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By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: November 5, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - In the closest county race, Bob White got his wish Tuesday as Pasco voters re-elected him, making him the first sheriff in decades to clinch a third term.

White garnered 49 percent of the vote to Democratic challenger Kim Bogart's nearly 48 percent with all of the county's 154 precincts reporting.

"It's not over until it's over," White said. "We came out in pretty good shape. I'm thankful to the voters for having confidence in me."

Bogart, a consultant and former sheriff's office captain and major, gave White a run for his money after his campaign gained momentum - and key endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police - following the Democratic primary in August.

During that primary Bogart, 56, easily beat opponent Jeff Deremer, a senior parole and probation officer with the Department of Corrections, with 74 percent of the vote.

The Republican primary wasn't as breezy for White, whose vocal opponent, retired vice and narcotics Lt. Robert Sullivan, secured 45 percent of the vote in that race and later crossed party lines to throw his support behind Bogart.

"I'm proud of what we've done," Bogart said Tuesday night, adding he doesn't see anything else his team could have done to change the results.

"I'm going to dust myself off this next week. ... I'm not sure what I'm going to do. ... I didn't plan on anything beyond winning."

Nonpartisan candidate Bobby Kinzy, 60, a retired career TECO employee with no law enforcement experience, had a meager showing with nearly 2.5 percent of the vote. He took a grass-roots approach to campaigning, but what was perhaps more unusual was that with the little funding he had, he didn't buy any campaign signs, choosing instead to knock on doors to get his name out.

White is looking forward to success in the next four years.

"We've made great strides," he said. "... And I expect great things in the four years head."

With budget constraints White knows his agency is going to do even more with less and he's already asking members of the community to increase their volunteerism. A big campaign issue for his opponents has been White's relationship with the union.

After the formation of the Fraternal Order of Police two years ago, unionized deputies still are working without a contract. Both sides point the fingers at each other. White says that he's been willing to work with union negotiators and that the negative publicity on the subject has been purely political.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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