Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been elected to a second term. Her opponents, Democrat George Sheldon and Libertarian Bill Wohlsifer conceded defeat Tuesday.
With a double digit lead over her Democrat challenger, Bondi got 55 percent of the vote to Sheldon’s 42 percent. And, following her victory speech, she spoke to reporters in Tampa about her win.
“I’m just blessed to have four more years to keep fighting for the citizens of Florida. And, I’m going to do it with every breath I have and as much energy as we did the first four years,” said Bondi.
Earlier in the day, Sheldon remained optimistic about his chances of winning, even joking with Tallahassee reporters about them potentially writing about an upset victory.
“Well, hopefully, I’ll give you something to report tonight,” said Sheldon, at the time.
But, about two hours after the polls officially closed, Sheldon announced to his supporters he’d conceded defeat to the Republican incumbent, adding he looks forward to working with her in the future.
“Thank you all for coming out…I have just called Pam Bondi. She was very gracious. I complimented her on her victory here tonight,” said Sheldon to supporters, as some
Meanwhile, one more candidate conceded the loss in the Florida Attorney General race—lesser known,
Libertarian Bill Wohlsifer, who took three-percent of the vote. But, he remained upbeat.
“Well, I actually feel really good about it,” said Wohlsifer. “I mean I’m disappointed in the results. I’m not disappointed in my campaign because we did a fantastic job. Now, three percent is 100-percent over what Gary Johnson did in Florida in 2012. He got .5 percent. So, if we continue down that path, we’ll go from .5 to 3 to 6 to 9 to 12, and we’ll start competing with these major parties. The Libertarian party is here to stay.”
Throughout his campaign, Wohlsifer spoke mainly of the medical marijuana issue and his ongoing efforts to legalize marijuana. Meanwhile, Bondi made human trafficking and her efforts to combat prescription drug abuse main focuses of her campaign. And, trying to draw contrasts between himself and Bondi, Sheldon talked a lot about health care and ending Florida’s gay marriage ban.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.
