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Eddy Dominguez
Eddy Dominguez was a 2017 Democratic special election candidate for District 44 of the Florida House of Representatives.
He was chosen to run for the seat in September 2017 after the previous Democratic candidate Paul Chandler withdrew due to a lawsuit questioning his residency in Florida. Chandler's name still appeared on the ballot, but Orange County Supervisor of Elections Cowles planned to send notices letting voters know that a vote for Chandler was a vote for Dominguez.[1]
Elections
2017
A special election for the position of Florida House of Representatives District 44 was called for October 10, 2017. There was a special primary election on August 15, 2017.[2] The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in the election was June 20, 2017.[3]
Candidates who successfully filed to run in this election include Democrat Paul Chandler and Republicans Usha Jain, John Newstreet, Bobby Olszewski, and Bruno Portigliatti.[4] Chandler was the only Democrat to file on June 20, so there was no Democratic primary held. Jain, Newstreet, Olszewski, and Portigliatti faced off in the Republican primary on August 15.
Olszewski won the Republican primary. He competed in the special election on October 10.[5]
On August 22, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Chandler had withdrawn from the race due to a lawsuit that alleged he was not a resident of Florida and ineligible to run.[6]
On August 25, the Sentinel reported that Chandler was reconsidering withdrawing from the race as he never officially submitted his withdrawal papers.[7]
On September 8, 2017, Chandler officially withdrew from the race. Although he was replaced by Democrat Eddy Dominguez, his name still appeared on the ballot.[8][9]
On October 10, Olszewski won the special election, according to unofficial results.
The seat became vacant following the resignation of Republican incumbent Eric Eisnaugle. He was appointed to the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal by Governor Rick Scott (R) on May 8, 2017. He officially resigned his seat on May 18, 2017.[10] Eisnaugle represented the seat from 2014 to 2017. In the 2016 presidential election, District 44 voted for Hillary Clinton (D) over Donald Trump (R) by a 6.2 point margin.
Paul Chandler withdrawal
On August 8, Windermere, Florida, resident Charles Hart filed a lawsuit alleging that Paul Chandler voted in Missouri in the 2016 elections and thus was not a legal resident of Florida and ineligible to run.[11] According to Article III of the Florida Constitution, “an elector and resident of the district from which elected and shall have resided in the state for a period of two years prior to the election.”
Chandler released the following statement: “I have been a resident of Orange County for over two years. My 2012 Florida state ID remains valid. This is an attempt to bring Trump-style reality TV politics to Orange County and distract from the real issues that my campaign is working to address, like health care, education, and jobs.”[11]
Florida has closed primaries, meaning only voters registered with a party can vote in them. According to the website Florida Politics, if one party does not put up a candidate in an election, then the primary for the party that does have candidates would have to be open to all voters, possibly invalidating the results of the closed Republican primary held August 15.[11] Early voting began in the closed Republican primary on August 5. According to Orange County Democratic Chair Wes Hodge, state law would allow Democrats to appoint a new candidate in the event that Chandler’s candidacy was invalidated.[12]
The Newstreet, Olszewski, and Portigliatti campaigns all released statements regarding the Chandler lawsuit’s possible effect on the Republican primary. Newstreet spokesman Alan Byrd said, “More than 3,500 Republicans have voted in this election to date. They have participated in their American right to vote. To have a court invalidate their choice simply cannot happen and we plan to fight to protect their votes.” Olszewski said, “We’re focused on our positive, conservative message and reaching voters for great results on Tuesday,” Portigliatti said that the lawsuit sounded like a “desperate attempt to affect the outcome,” and that he and his staff were weighing a response. The Jain campaign did not release a statement.[11]
On August 22, Chandler announced that he was planning to withdraw from the race. According to Wes Hodge, “There’s an air of uncertainty hanging over this lawsuit. We were confident that Paul was a resident but after speaking with several attorneys we felt it was up to a judge’s interpretation.”[6]
On August 25, Chandler announced that he had not yet withdrawn from the race and was still making a decision on how to proceed. He said that the original announcement about his withdrawal had been made under pressure from Democratic Party leaders and added, “I have the right to officially end my campaign when I end it.” Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said he would delay sending out mail-in ballots for members of the military until it became clearer who would represent the Democratic Party in the October 10 special election. The ballots were originally scheduled to be sent out on August 26 after the results of the August 15 Republican primary were officially certified.[7]
On August 28, the first absentee ballots were mailed out and they included Chandler's name.[13]
On September 8, 2017, Chandler again withdrew from the race. On September 20, Fox 35 reported that Chandler would be replaced by Democrat Eddy Dominguez. Chandler's name still appeared on the ballot, but Orange County Supervisor of Elections Cowles planned to send notices letting voters know that a vote for Chandler was a vote for Dominguez.
| Florida House of Representatives, District 44, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Eddy Dominguez | 44.4% | 5,529 | |
| Republican |  Bobby Olszewski |
55.6% | 6,937 | |
| Total Votes | 12,466 | |||
| Source: Florida Department of State | ||||
| Florida House of Representatives, District 44 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Bobby Olszewski |
39.8% | 2,509 | ||
| John Newstreet | 38.2% | 2,411 | ||
| Bruno Portigliatti | 18.2% | 1,151 | ||
| Usha Jain | 3.8% | 239 | ||
| Total Votes | 6,310 | |||
| Source: Florida Department of State |
||||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Eddy Dominguez Florida House. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Florida House of Representatives
- Florida House of Representatives District 44
- Florida state legislative special elections, 2017
- Florida State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ FOX 35, "Democrat Dominguez to run in Florida House special election," September 20, 2017
- ↑ Florida Politics, "Dates set for special election to replace Eric Eisnaugle in House," May 26, 2017
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "2017 Special Election - State Representative 44 Candidate Qualifying Memorandum, May 26, 2017
- ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "GOP primary set for Eisnaugle's House seat, Democrat unopposed," June 20, 2017
- ↑ Florida Politics, "Robert ‘Bobby O’ Olszewski wins HD 44 Republican special primary," August 15, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Orlando Sentinel, "Democrat Paul Chandler withdraws from state House race," August 22, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Orlando Sentinel, "Democratic state House candidate reconsiders dropping out of the race," August 25, 2017
- ↑ Florida Politics, "Democrat Paul Chandler withdraws from HD 44 special election," September 13, 2017
- ↑ FOX 35, "Democrat Dominguez to run in Florida House special election," September 20, 2017
- ↑ Orlando Rising, "Eric Eisnaugle makes House departure official," May 22, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Florida Politics, "Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Paul Chandler’s HD 44 candidacy, could jeopardize whole special election," August 9, 2017
- ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Lawsuit seeks to disqualify Democrat candidate in House race," August 9, 2017
- ↑ Florida Politics, "Absentee ballots for HD 44 special election include Paul Chandler," August 28, 2017
