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Elections Chief Johnson Concedes As Vote Count Nears End

News Channel 8 photo by INDIRA LEVINE

"I'm surprised it wasn't greater,'' Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson said of the margin of his defeat to Phyllis Busansky.

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: November 6, 2008

Updated: 11/06/2008 09:04 pm

Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson has lost the election after all.

Johnson, who oversaw an election with so many problems they were still counting votes two days after the polls closed, walked into elections headquarters shortly before 6 p.m. today and conceded the race. The action came a few moments after continuing vote returns showed his slight lead over Democratic opponent Phyllis Busansky had evaporated.

"Anything we can do to make her transition smooth, we will,'' Johnson told reporters. "There's a lot of big issues to deal with.''

The supervisor dodged questions about his handling of the election but praised his staff.

"The pressure they have been under in this election is tremendous.''

Earlier in the day, Johnson had been ahead by about 2,700 votes, but by 6 p.m. Busansky was up, 231,741 votes to 226,909 votes for Johnson.

"I'm surprised it wasn't greater,'' Johnson said of the margin of his defeat.

After hearing the news, Busansky said, "I can't believe it, it's wonderful news. We've worked so hard for this, and now we must begin the process of restoring accountability to the elections office."

Elections officials said they expected to be finished tallying early votes by about 7 p.m. today, then will tabulate about 3,500 provisional ballots Friday.

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