Dwight Dudley defeats Bill Young II in hard fought House District 68

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Democratic State Rep. Dwight Dudley defeated Bill Young II in the hard-fought race for Pinellas County House District 68.

With all precincts reporting, the incumbent leads first-time candidate Young, son of the late U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, by 53 to 47 percent and a margin of more than 2,600 votes. House District 68 has been seen as a true battleground seat, having switched parties 3 of the last 5 elections.

“I would like to thank my wife, family members, supporters, volunteers, and staff for their hard work and commitment to our campaign,” Young said in a concession statement. “We knew it would be an uphill battle to take on an incumbent in a battleground seat like this, and I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work we put in.

“My first campaign was a great experience and I’m grateful to the residents of District 68 for giving me this opportunity,” he added.

District 68 covers much of eastern Pinellas County, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg.

Phil Ammann is a St. Petersburg-based journalist and blogger. With more than three decades of writing, editing and management experience, Phil produced material for both print and online, in addition to founding HRNewsDaily.com. His broad range includes covering news, local government and culture reviews for Patch.com, technical articles and profiles for BetterRVing Magazine and advice columns for a metaphysical website, among others. Phil has served as a contributor and production manager for SaintPetersBlog since 2013. He lives in St. Pete with his wife, visual artist Margaret Juul and can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @PhilAmmann.