ShareThisBy AMIE PARNES and MICHELLE SHELDONE
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Tim Mahoney, a political newcomer who some called the luckiest man in politics, defeated Republican state legislator Joe Negron in a tumultuous, nationally publicized race to succeed the disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley.
Mahoney, a Palm Beach Gardens Democrat who runs a financial services company, edged Negron by a slim margin. Negron entered the race just five weeks ago after Foley suddenly resigned from Congress after admitting he sent lewd e-mails to boys who worked as congressional pages.
The fiercely competitive race rocketed the Treasure Coast to the front lines of national politics in the aftermath of the scandal.
Foley, the Republican who served the 16th district for 12 years and was considered a lock for re-election, resigned from office in late September.
Within hours of the Foley resignation, Mahoney became the favorite in the race.
Mahoney called himself a "long shot challenger."
"People in this election, not only in this district but throughout the country are sending a very clear message and I hope Washington listens and that is we're sick and tired of wedge issues," Mahoney told a crowd of about 200 supporters, after taking the stage to U2's "Beautiful Day."
"We're sick and tired of hearing about things that don't matter. We're sick and tired of partisan fights."
Negron conceded defeat shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday and said he would not have run his campaign any differently. "I'm very proud of the campaign I ran," he said. "To step in and run a five-week campaign in place of a congressman who resigned in disgrace, I'm very proud of the race we ran.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed that I came up just short," Negron added.
One of the keys to Mahoney's victory was keeping it close in the Republican stronghold of Charlotte County. Mahoney lost by only 34 votes in a county where Republicans hold a 51,464 to 36,296 advantage in registration.
"Obviously I would have liked to have had a little bigger lead in Charlotte County given the fact it's a strong Republican county," Negron said. "We spent a lot of time in Charlotte County."
Mahoney called Negron "a class act." Mahoney ran an aggressive campaign that called for a new Iraq war strategy, immigration reform and reductions in property owners and health insurance.
George Andreassi of the Stuart News contributed to this report.
