Results of the Sept. 18, 2007 Special General Election: District 16, Duval County

Below are the unofficial results of the special general election, held on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 for Florida House District 16. Charles McBurney beat Debra Jahns-Nelson by a margin of nearly 4-1.

Below are the unofficial results of a special general election, held on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 for Florida House District 16. Charles McBurney beat Debra Jahns-Nelson by a margin of nearly 4-1.

The seat was formerly held by Mark Mahon since 2000.  Mahon will begin his new job as a 4th Circuit Court judge this month.

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

State House of Representatives District 016

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State Representative District: 16
County	Charles McBurney (REP)	Debra Jahns-Nelsen (DEM)
Duval	4,758	1,259
Total	4,758	1,259
% Votes	79.1%	20.9%

Voter Turnout

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Voter Registration and Turnout

County	Â	Voter Reg	Turnout	% Turnout
Duval	Â	86,964	6,026	6.9%
Total	Â	86,964	6,026	6.9%

 

Coverage of the race and candidates from the Jacksonville Times-Union is below:

Polls open in District 16 race

By J. Taylor Rushing,
Capital Bureau Chief

Polls are open in the special election race for Jacksonville Republican Mark Mahon’s District 16 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

In the race are Democrat Debra Jahns-Nelsen, 51, and Republican Charles McBurney, 50, a longtime local attorney and GOP activist. The seat came open when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Mahon for a for a 4th circuit judgeship in June. Mahon had represented the district since his election in 2000.

The District 16 seat includes about 130,000 residents and leans heavily Republican, although registered voters are fairly evenly split – 41 percent Republican, 40 percent Democrat and 19 percent independent.

McBurney defeated former City Councilman Lad Daniels with 63 percent of the vote in the Aug. 28 primary. A former assistant state attorney, McBurney is making his second bid for the seat, after narrowly losing to Mahon in 2000.

McBurney said his years in business make him the best choice to impose fiscal responsibility. The state is not only in a round of budget cuts, but revenue to local governments could be cut because of a Jan. 29 constitutional amendment election to expand the state’s “Save Our Homes” property tax benefit.

“We are coming into a period of time of tough decisions, but public safety is my No. 1 priority,” he said in a previous interview. “When a family sits down and they have to decide where they’re going to cut, they’ll cut vacation time or going out to eat, but they’re not going to reduce their mortgage. Government is the same way.”

Jahns-Nelsen, a certified internal auditor and public accountant, said Jacksonville needs a representative who won’t blindly support Republican legislative leaders on issues that will affect the city’s neighborhoods, such as public safety and education. For example, she pointed to the state budget crisis and property tax cuts, which lawmakers are carrying out by ordering local governments to cope with less revenue.

“I hear McBurney talking a lot about public safety, but one of the reasons we’re having public safety problems is because of what’s happening in Tallahassee,” Jahns-Nelsen said in a previous interview. “You can’t say you’re for public safety and then support Crist’s continuing cuts. We need to maintain our current funding for that and other things that are root causes of public safety problems, like education. Otherwise, the funding is only going to get worse.”

The candidates at a glance:

DEBRA JAHNS-NELSON  Age: 51.  Family: Husband, Jim; daughters Christen, 27, and Sarah, 23,; son Eric, 15.Education: Bachelor of business administration in accounting from the University of North Florida.Occupation: Chief financial officer for nonprofit.

CHARLES MCBURNEY:  Age: 50.  Family: Wife, Deborah; and stepdaughters Katherine Turpin, 21, and Madeline, 16.Education: Bachelor of arts and juris doctor degrees from the University of Florida Occupation: Business attorney