Pinellas County | Supervisor of Elections

The race pits an experienced elections official against an opponent with decades of experience in computer technology. Deborah Clark says her passion for the job and three decades of experience in election administration qualify her for the job. Jack Killingsworth questions her competence and says he has the technical know-how to improve the voting process and the drive to increase voter trust.

Deborah Clark, 59, R		Jack Killingsworth, 74, D
Clark became the county’s top elections official in 2000. She automatically won another four-year term in 2004 when no one ran against her. She has worked in the elections office for 30 years and served as deputy administrator from 1982 through 2000. She has served various positions in the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. She has also taught election administration classes for new municipal clerks through the Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University	Experience	Killingsworth, who lost a bid for the Pinellas County School Board in 2006, has not held a political office. But he says his background in business management and experience in the design and development of computers and electronic systems well qualify him for both the technical and administrative functions of the office. Killingsworth also says voter trust must be restored.
Associate of arts degree at St. Petersburg Junior College.	Education	Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Master of business administration from Florida Institute of Technology.
Clark says she’s learned from her mistakes. One of the main steps she’s taken to rectify errors is to replace staff who weren’t following proper procedures, she said. “If we had followed our own procedures, we would not have made those mistakes,” she said.	Focus on Clark’s prior mistakes	Killingsworth has questioned Clark’s competence, emphasizing past errors. From 2000 to 2006, mistakes ranged from missing ballots to uncounted ballots to incorrect absentee ballots. Killingsworth said his knowledge of technology and attention to detail would help prevent such problems.
Clark has emphasized voting by mail and absentee ballots over early voting sites, saying the latter are expensive and would not increase turnout. She said her decision is more efficient and reflects what the voters of Pinellas want.	Early voting vs. absentee ballots	Killingsworth says he would provide more than the three early voting sites set up by Clark this election. He accuses Clark of being partisan because he believes Democrats prefer early voting to absentee ballots.
Clark says the current process is open and already allows the inspection of ballots. She says her opponent is focusing on his degrees and computer knowledge when voting administration experience is more critical.	Other issues	Killingsworth says he’d like to improve the “transparency” of the voting process by allowing easier inspection of voter records in person and through digital means. “I want the public to be able to see what’s going on in their election system,” Killingsworth said.
Home, retirement and investment accounts, checking and savings accounts	Assets	Home, stock, retirement and bank accounts
Mortgage, home equity and auto loans	Liabilities	None listed
$953,725	Net worth	$1.33-million
Supervisor of Elections salary	Source of Income	Pensions and annuities, social security
Married to Richard A. Clark. Two children. She’s a 26-year member of the Keel Club, a United Way leadership giving society.	Personal	Married to Robbie Killingsworth. Three children. A Navy Korean War veteran, Killingsworth grew up in Bay County and came to Pinellas County in 1969.
Yes	Web site	Yes
Yes	E-mail	Yes

About the job: The supervisor of elections oversees all county, state and national elections held in Pinellas, assists local candidates with filing procedures and registers new voters. The supervisor serves a four-year term and has an annual salary of $128,726.