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An automatic recount, triggered last week during the Republican Primary for Congressional District 11, did not change the results of the primary, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office.
At the close of the Aug. 18 Republican Primary, businessman Joe Strada, founder of Strada Services, was ahead of former state lawmaker Carey Baker by 393 votes or 0.48 percent of the votes cast.
In Florida, state statute requires a recount if a winning candidate is separated from a defeated candidate by 0.5 percent or less of the total votes cast.
The Orange County recount was completed Saturday around 6 p.m., Blake Summerlin, public information officer for Orange County's elections office, told VoxPopuli by email. Florida Politics reported that the remaining counties finished their recount Sunday.
Summerlin said the results remained the same following the recount. Florida Politics noted that Baker and Strada each gained a vote in Lake County while candidates Tim Wilkins and Ivette Palomo each lost a vote, but the outcome did not change and Strada officially became the Republican nominee for Congressional District 11.
Congressional District 11 encompasses Sumter County and parts of Lake and Orange counties.
Strada had his strongest showing in Sumter County, winning 10,496 votes to Baker’s 9,295. But Baker outshone Strada in Lake County where he was the property appraiser for a dozen years, earning 11,906 votes to Strada's 9,159. Neither candidate did particularly well in deep blue Orange County, though Strada did better, snaring 7,734 votes to Baker’s 5,795.
Strada squares off against former Clinton administration policy advisor James Pericola, winner of last week's Democratic Primary, in the Nov. 3 Midterm Election.
The District 11 has been held by Republican Congressman Daniel Webster who announced in April that he was retiring.
