Jesse Scheckner
A Republican race for the right to challenge longtime Democratic St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker ended in a razor-close finish, with the winner earning just four more votes than her opponent.
Real estate broker Jennifer Frey will face Walker, seeking a 12th consecutive term after Frey narrowly outpaced fellow Republican George Umansky.
She took 12,790 votes, the St. Lucie County Elections Department announced Sunday. Umansky received 12,786 votes.
After polls closed on Tuesday, the Elections Department showed Frey leading Umansky by just two votes, 12,777 to 12,775. A machine recount commenced Thursday but led to an even less decisive result: a tie, with 12,787 votes apiece.
The Elections Department’s website still shows that as of 1 p.m. Monday. Staff from the office declined to say when the numbers will be updated.
Election officials then manually retallied ballots, as is required when less than 0.25 percentage points separate candidates following a machine recount.
Walker told media outlets she was recusing herself from the process.
“I’m here as an adviser to the Canvassing Board. I’m no longer part of the Board. I recused myself from it,” she told TCPalm, adding that she was recusing herself despite not being required by law.
“For fairness and transparency, I certainly wanted the two opponents to make sure that they felt satisfied that I have not made an impact on the outcome.”
WPBF reported that the recount took place at the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Office in Fort Pierce and was open to the public for observation.
Frey told the outlet she was “very pleased” with the outcome.
“I have a small team of people, and they’ve helped tremendously,” she said.
Umansky told WPBF, “It just goes to prove how important it is to get out to vote and that every vote counts.”
About 20.5% of St. Lucie County’s 235,734 registered voters participated in the Aug. 20 Primary, down from 26% in 2020.
Frey’s website said she is running after 12 years of “election challenges” in St. Lucie, “including multiple recounts, misdeclaration of winners, allegations of bias, uninvestigated voter fraud claims, misplaced ballots, unqualified candidates, omitted races on ballots, compromised ballot wording, and concerns over security at voting sites.”
She is a former restaurateur who owns and operates RE/MAX Tradition in Okeechobee. Her campaign website says she has spent “hundreds of hours” volunteering in St. Lucie, including as an election worker since 2016.
Umansky, a U.S. Air Force veteran who has long worked in the security and surveillance industry, said he was running because “as a patriot, I couldn’t ignore ongoing controversies in our county’s elections.”
He said proactive voter roll cleanup and maintenance will be his top priority.
Walker became St. Lucie’s Supervisor of Elections by appointment in 1980. On the county website, she said every local election “is a fresh opportunity for us to reinforce our freedom.”
“Recent happenings have made it clear just how vital each vote is,” she said. “As Americans, we have an important role in safeguarding our democracy, and we count on our elected officials to make sure our freedom is protected through voting.”
