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Johnson Concedes Elections Post To Busansky

News Channel 8 photo by ERIC HAUSMANN

Buddy Johnson talks about his defeat as the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2008

TAMPA - With his lead over Democratic opponent Phyllis Busansky evaporating, Buddy Johnson appeared briefly before a crowd of reporters early Thursday night and conceded the Hillsborough supervisor of elections race.

Johnson, who oversaw an election with so many problems they were still counting Hillsborough County votes two days after the polls closed, congratulated Busansky on her win and praised his staff and family members, but dodged questions about his handling of the election.

"Anything we can do to make her transition smooth, we will," Johnson told reporters.

With that, he walked across the hall to his office, closing the door behind him.

Earlier Thursday, Johnson had been ahead by about 2,700 votes, but by the time all the early, or pre-Election Day, votes had been counted at 7 p.m., Busansky had won, 52 percent to 48 percent. The final tally was 251,700 votes to 233,063 votes for Johnson, with only a few thousand provisional ballots left to be counted today.

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

Johnson, 56, is a former state legislator known for his conservative Christian beliefs and his role in creating the BuddyFreddys restaurant chain. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Johnson to lead the elections office when Pam Iorio stepped down to run for mayor of Tampa. Johnson won a four-year term in 2004, garnering 56 percent of the vote.

Since then, his office has presided over 23 elections. Some have run smoothly, but in others, Johnson has been criticized for a variety of problems, from the slow posting of returns, to delays in mailing absentee ballots, to hastily moving polling locations.

In Tuesday's presidential and other elections, voters complained of ballot scanners jamming, some precincts handed voters only one page of the two-page ballot, and students at the University of South Florida were still waiting in line to vote at 10:30 p.m. because of a lack of ballots.

The biggest problem, though, was the delay in counting all the votes. The last of the early votes weren't tabulated until 48 hours after polls closed.

Over the past year, Johnson also has faced a barrage of criticism about his personal financial dealings, including missing the deadline to pay his property taxes this year.

Recently, he has garnered unfavorable headlines for the frequency and prominence of his face and name in a voter-education campaign that cost taxpayers nearly $250,000.

Busansky, 71, has repeatedly questioned Johnson's tenure as elections chief, saying her management background and political experience is what is needed to do the job right.

Throughout the campaign, she outpaced Johnson in fundraising and spending.

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

The supervisor oversees voter registration, elections and candidate services, a budget of about $6.7 million and 32 employees. The four-year term pays $132,000 a year.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679

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