Newton, Dudley win council seats

   

ST. PETERSBURG – Wengay Newton (above) and Bill Dudley (left) , two self-described outsiders who campaigned against City Hall, narrowly won seats on the City Council on Tuesday.

Newton defeated Gershom Faulkner by some 600 votes out of a total of about 14,500 cast in the race in District 7; Dudley beat Ed Montanari by less than 260 votes in District 3.

Newton and Dudley had been voiceful critics of Mayor Rick Baker’s fiscal policies. Both men said the message resonated.

“We’ll work with the mayor. But he has to work with us,” Newton said after fielding congratulatory calls from several council members. “The people really want change. They want something done.”

Two other seats on council were also decided Tuesday, with incumbents Jamie Bennett and Herb Polson winning re-election.

Final vote totals, as of 11:45 p.m.

District 1
Bob Kersteen 6,667
Herb Polson  7,293

District 3
Bill Dudley 7,291
Ed Montanari  7,034

District 5
Jamie Bennett 11,417
New Election 2,541

District 7
Gershom Faulkner 6,637
Wengay Newton 7,246

- Aaron Sharockman and Nicole Hutcheson, Times Staff Writers

Comments

[kdz]

How very sad! All everyone does is complain about the way that our government is handling our state and NO ONE shows up to vote!! I agree that most of the candidates were bogus and not the right person for the job, but we have to show the politicians that we can elect them based on merit and not on connections. Educate yourselves and your friends on the issues and GO VOTE!!

[KDinStPete]

Very sad that self professed anti-gay bigot Faulkner is leading in the polls.

[disenfranchised]

Maybe, just maybe, more people would vote if they believed the pols would represent the people instead of the developers who fund their campaigns. St. Pete City Council certainly doesn't listen to the people they were elected to represent. Instead they take their orders from Baker, who is little more than a puppet for deep-pocketed developers like Sembler. Evidence: look at the Westin project being denied due to aesthetic concerns even though it complied with zoning, compered to the Sembler project in west St. Pete being approved, even though it required all sorts of lies, deception, and contortions by our city, county and state agencies to change the comp plan. What's the difference? Perhaps it's Baker getting an earful from his neighbors in the Old Northeast. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention! By the way, both my wife and I did vote.

[Tom]

In District 7 I supported Wengay Newton but I would not call Falkner a bigot. I hope that he is willing to reach out to all of his constituents.

If these numbers hold Sembler did indeed win once again.

My congratulations go to the winners and especially to Bob Kersteen who beat a strong political machine.

Can't the Times get a decent photo of Kersteen to run?

Semblem owns most every politician in Pinellas. He works the D's through his son-in-law.

make that Sembler

The only winner is Apathy...

Mission Accomplished!

[Julie]

Wengay Newton is leading the "bigot" the last time I checked.
And Bill Dudley is leading Montanari...so I won't have to worry about the entire waterfront becoming a landing strip!
Glad to see Polson winning too; he's my councilman and has always been right there on the phone if I had a question or problem...what a local pol SHOULD be!
At least my vote COUNTED...unlike the Democratic primary to come.....

[kyle]

Congrats Newt!!!baynews9.com has updated website before stpetetimes.com.

Sad indeed!

Don't vote---then don't complain!

[Samm Simpson]

Congratulations Newt! A fresh voice, a dedicated and compassionate human being and the right man for the job.

Congratulations, Polson. A fine person and public servant who will lead the city well and make us proud.

What the hell happened to Montanari's campaign? Mallard group lost another race!

It will be interesting to dissect this. The firefighters endorsement seems to help here, more so than St Pete Times. Also, the winners had ground games that helped edge out a close race in a low-turn out election. What happened in mid town though? It did not carry through--maybe Baker loses his luster holding Deveron's hand. Better find another ambassador who isn't so sleazy- people see through it.

Baker ran a slate and Faulkner took Montanari down with him. Whoops.

All of the Faulkner stuff aside, Newton just worked harder and that is why he won. For the sake of the City, let us all hope that he does not become the official city council member of the Ed Helm klan.

before everyone freaks out...i intended to type "ed helm clan." It was a spelling mistake, no underlying meaning there, just not enough sleep after a long day.

[Frank]

I am so proud to be living in a community that voted to reject bigotry. We are an example for the rest of the Suncoast!

[Maverick]

If Samm Simpson backs Newton, that tells me all I need to know. Too bad he won.

[WHAT!!!]

Hey did any stop and think that it is the begging of the month??? and most of us are in line trying to collect are food stamps and our unemployment checks. Uh we don't get paid to stand in line to vote.

[Pop]

I'd say that the firefighters might have been taken for granted by those who've long disrespected them in the mayor's camp. "It's a great day in St. Petersburg" when a trusted group like the firefighters come together to shape the face of politics in this town from one of cronyism to that of trust.

Congratulations to all who won their elections and kudo's to the one's who got you there!