Early voting starts Saturday in the Florida House District 64 seat formerly held by Republican Jamie Grant. And after the election takes place on April 21, it will once again be controlled by, yes, Jamie Grant.
The early voting will continue throughout next week in the district, which encompasses northwest Hillsborough and eastern Pinellas counties. It’s been without representation in the Florida House for the past five months, after lawmakers there disallowed Grant’s 19-point victory over fellow Republican Miriam Sternberg, following up on an appeals court ruling that invalidated the election results as part of an ongoing case involving write-in candidate Daniel Matthews.
Miriam Sternberg’s husband, Tampa attorney Michael Steinberg, filed a lawsuit last June on his own behalf over Matthews’ entry into the contest. Sternberg claimed that Matthews’ participation in the race prevented him and other Democrats from casting a ballot in an open or “universal primary.” State election officials have previously ruled that any write-in candidate qualifying for the general election makes the primary election “closed,” meaning that members of the opposing party, in this case, Democrats, can’t vote in it.
But Miriam Sternberg has since dropped out of the special election, meaning Grant is running only against Matthews, a virtual phantom candidate who has nothing to indicate that he actually wants to win the seat. Grant was elected to the seat in 2010, re-elected in 2012 and again last year, before the results were negated.
Early voting takes place in Hillsborough through April 18, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., at any of the following locations:
- Fred B. Karl County Center, 16th Floor, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa.
- Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center, 2514 N. Falkenburg Rd., Tampa.
- Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa.
- Upper Tampa Bay Regional Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa.
Early voting in Pinellas County runs through April 18, 8 a.m.- 4 p.m., at these locations:
- Election Service Center, 13001 Starkey Rd., Largo.
- Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court St., Room 117, Clearwater.
- County Building, 501 1st Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
