Ryan Ray
The long tail of legislative seat-hopping put into motion when former Sen. John Thrasher decided to resign to become Florida State University’s new president will come to an end Tuesday.
Special elections are slated to be held in Senate District 6 — Thrasher’s old seat — as well as House Districts 24 and 17, which Reps. Travis Hutson and “Doc” Renuart were enticed to leave in order to pursue Thrasher’s spot in the upper chamber, respectively.
Though somewhat more votes are expected to be cast in these races compared to the very low-turnout affair in which Rep. Reggie Fullwood regained his seat last month after an interruption in his consecutive service due to paperwork errors — Duval Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland predicted about 8 percent of voters to come out in that race — the races will have real significance despite their obscurity.
Candidates who take office by special elections are historically far more likely to attain leadership positions within their caucuses due to their natural advantage of longer service than their colleagues.
Paul Renner and Travis Hutson continued to pour onto their fundraising advantages over their Democratic opponents Adam Morley and David Cox, who are expected to be sacrificial lambs as the GOP continues to maintain their lopsided majorities in both chambers.
Hutson submitted a letter of resignation effective on a date “to be determined” when he filed for the Senate seat he has eyed for some time. When, as most observers expect, he is elected to the seat, he will officially switch chambers on Wednesday.
Florida Democratic Party spokesman Joshua Karp emphasized the heavily R-oriented character of the districts and said that despite the turmoil injected into the atmosphere by the off-season action, the races tomorrow will simply swap around “Republican dominoes.”
