Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/115375
Sarasota News Leader March 15, 2013 Page 29 She hoped her name recognition from those prior races would benefit her citywide effort. But only 1,531 people marked their ballots for her, or about 14 percent of the vote. Dorfman ran third — and made it into the finals — with 2,311 votes, or 21 percent. In other words, Dorfman spent more than four times as much as Holland, but he won only one-third more votes. TROLLING THE PARTIES Campaign parties for city primary elections can be notoriously brief. Needless to say, the losers close up shop pretty early. The victors know the hard work has just begun. (I visited them all, and I said I would call each of them the next day. I left messages, and three returned my calls — Lumpkin, Atwell and Chapman.) At her party in Caragiulo's on Palm Avenue, Suzanne Atwell said her first-place finish would 'frame the runoff.' Final vote totals showed she finished second. Photo by Stan Zimmerman There is no professional staff to drink late into the night, the food is seldom tasty enough to cut through the thrills and agonies and almost everybody has a job in the morning. With that said, the vote for Best Party has to go to Kelvin Lumpkin at the Toasted Mango on Fifth Street. Because it is open only for breakfast and lunch, the restaurant was reserved for Lumpkin's supporters alone. There were plenty of seats, the noise was low and it had the feel of a gathering of classmates. While he came in fifth, with 1,440 votes (13 percent), a wide coalition of people attended Lumpkin's party. In his first outing, he came within 100 votes of Holland, a city icon. But I had to keep moving. The second floor of the Broadway Bar was "Holland Country." Pizza, of course, is the re- Linda Holland put on a brave face moments after the initial results came in, showing her in fourth place. She was not going to make it into the runoff. Photo by Stan Zimmerman