For the most part, there were no real surprises locally on Election Day, 2014 -- when voters went to the polls in Northwest Florida and pretty much kept the status quo.
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, who won a second term by a 65-35% margin over challenger Donna Clark.
The two City Council seats remained in the hands of the incumbents. Sherri Myers defeated Dennis Tackett 55-45% in District-2. In District-6, Brian Spencer garnered 65% of the vote over Mark Taylor.
Two city charter amendments also gained approval. Number one would allow the City Council to hire its own staff and attorneys. Number two would allow for the recall of elected officials.
The area’s two state representatives kept their seats with no problems. Republican Clay Ingram keeps the District-1 seat with 69% of the vote. Republican Mike Hill got 64% of the vote to win his first full term, in a rematch with Democrat Jeremy Lau.
There’s a new face on the Escambia County Commission. Doug Underhill – who defeated incumbent Gene Valentino in the Republican primary – defeated Democrat Deb Moore 65-35% for the District-2 seat.
Grover Robinson kept the District-4 seat, winning 71 percent of the vote over Mike Lowery. Linda Moultrie retained the District-3 post on the Escambia County School Board with an 11-point win over Charlie Nichols.
Both of the sales taxes – the half-penny for schools and the one-cent Local Option – were renewed by substantial margins.
In the statewide races, voters in the Panhandle went for Gov. Rick Scott over Charlie Crist. They also gave large support to other Tallahassee incumbents: Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jeff Atwater, the Chief Financial Officer, and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.