Huge Crowd Jams Political Hob Nob At Port Canaveral

By  //  August 6, 2014

ABOVE VIDEO: Space Coast Daily Special Correspondent Danny Treanor at the 2014 Tiger Bay Hob Nob hosted by Port Canaveral at Cruise Terminal 6.

Barfield, Jones Win County Commission Straw Poll

BREVARD COUNTY • PORT CANVAVERAL, FLORIDA – Over 800 attendees got the opportunity to meet almost 40 candidates for many local and state offices at Tuesday night’s Hob Nob hosted by the Space Coast Tiger Bay Club.

Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott and her team conducted a straw poll at the event.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY

Lori Scott
Lori Scott

“This is a great turnout,” Scott said. “I am happy to see everyone engaging with the candidates. It is indicative of our electorate in Brevard. I know the candidates enjoyed the opportunity for some one-on-one time with the voters.”

Jim Barfield
Jim Barfield

Jim Barfield took the District 2 County Commission race straw poll with 240 votes. Primary opponent Michael Hartman was second with 142 votes and Jack Smink, who will face the Republican primary winner in November as a No-Party-Affiliation candidate, garnered 102 votes.

Greg Jones
Greg Jones

In the District 4 race, Greg Jones won with 176 votes and Curt Smith was second with 103 votes.

In the School Board races, Misty Belford won for District 1 with 55%, John Craig won for District 2 with 58%, and incumbent Andy Ziegler bested his closest competitor by a 3-1 margin.

J.B. Kump, a board member for the Tiger Bay Club and the evening’s emcee, said, “We are blown away with this turnout. We way outdid expectations thanks to our sponsors and others getting the word out. Tiger Bay has always been about bipartisan, issue-driven politics and tonight shows the importance of this year’s elections.”

Perennial Libertarian county commission candidate Ilene Davis seconded the importance of the event.

Ilene Davis
Ilene Davis

“It’s an incredible opportunity because the voters can ask real questions of real people,” Davis said. “So many of the forums focus on government solutions, but in this forum we can hear the people solutions.”

Besides candidates, there were also tables set up for other ballot initiatives.

Two groups promoted a “Yes” vote on the referendum to continue allowing the County Commission to grant tax exemptions to attract businesses to Brevard.

Also, Brevard Save our Students handed out literature backing the passage of a referendum from the School Board that will ask the citizens to authorize a half-cent sales surtax for capital funding.

Chuck Nelson
Chuck Nelson

Finally, a People United for Medical Marijuana supported a “yes” vote on November 4th for Amendment 2, which will legalize the drug under certain circumstances,

Retiring District 2 County Commissioner Chuck Nelson sipped on a beer and seemed to enjoy his freedom from the campaign grind.

“This turnout is very representative of our community. I’m looking forward to seeing how this straw poll ends up tonight.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY

Space Coast Daily Special Correspondent Danny Treanor Interviews Brevard County Commission Candidates


ABOVE VIDEO: County Commission District 2 Candidate Mike Hartman.


ABOVE VIDEO: County Commission District 2 candidate Jim Barfield.


ABOVE VIDEO: County Commission District 2 candidate Jack Smink.


ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard County Commission District 4 Candidate Curt Smith.


ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard County Commission District 4 Candidate Greg Jones.


ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard County Commission District 4 Candidate Rick Lacey.


ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard County Commission District 4 Candidate Richard Charbonneau.


ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard County Commission District 4 Candidate David Armstrong.