Broward News & Opinion

Watching early voting, you usually expect turnout to build as Election Day approaches, with the final weekend delivering the big finish. Campaigns chase their remaining supporters, churches organize Souls to the Polls, and the procrastinators finally show up.

This year, Mother Nature apparently had other plans.

South Florida got soaked, and as the numbers were coming in I suspected the rain washed away a good chunk of the final weekend surge. So I decided to crunch the numbers.

Across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, the usual Sunday jump was a fraction of what we've seen in previous elections. Palm Beach, which took the worst beating from the rain, barely registered an increase over Saturday.

Here's how much Sunday turnout increased over the preceding Saturday:

The weather cost the three counties something like 48,000 early votes over the weekend.

Some of those voters might have shown up on Tuesday. But it raises an interesting question: How much of the expected finish got washed out?

Enough to flip the governor's race or a Cabinet seat? Probably not.

Of course, looking only at South Florida is an analysis in a vacuum. Republican strongholds like Brevard got soaked, too. Republican state Rep. Monique Miller trails by just 289 votes, with folks I speak to up there telling me that they feel like weather made the difference.

Souls to the Polls, Pompano and a Whole Lot of Money

Back in Broward, Souls to the Polls provided one of the few bright spots I saw during the final weekend of early voting. Even that effort seemed muted.

The action was concentrated around some of the county's nastiest local political fights.

Down in West Park, a political battle royale ended in something of a draw. Katria Touchtone, who I went to high school with, lost her seat, but her ally Jujuan Burton won the race to replace Brandon Smith, a solid vote for the mayor. Because of the charter provisions that require 4 votes to do most things in that city, expect more turmoil.

In Pompano Beach, former state Rep. Patricia Williams defeated Beverly Perkins in a District 4 commission race that divided the community.

Speaking of Pompano.

I've been thinking about what all that campaign money actually accomplished. My read is that the avalanche of spending backfired on the east side. Dealing with that level of money in a local race takes some experience, especially when it's the first time a city experiences it. Unfortunately, I've learned that lesson the hard way in past elections.

There's only so much mail, advertising and campaign clutter voters can take in a local race before voters start asking who's paying for all this stuff and what they expect in return.

At some point, another glossy mailer stops persuading people and starts making them suspicious.

But in Northwest Pompano, I think the same kind of spending sent an entirely different message. For years, residents have watched development go up around them while jobs, contracts and opportunities went to people outside their community.

Then along comes Patricia Williams, backed by people with money, influence and connections.

Suddenly, all that spending looks a little different. The money and organization suggested Williams knew people who could help bring home the bacon.

Instead of wondering what the people funding the campaign want, voters may have been thinking about what those connections could deliver for their neighborhood.

Whether she actually delivers is another question. But I think the perception helped get her elected.

Campaign money talks. Apparently, it says different things depending on whose mailbox it lands in.

Bolton's Worst-Kept Birthday Secret

And while we're on the subject of money, lobbyists, get your checkbooks ready. Marlon Bolton has finally made it official.

The Tamarac vice mayor filed his papers to run for the Broward County Commission, announcing his candidacy just days before the election.

That wasn't exactly a surprise to those who attended his private birthday dinner in downtown Fort Lauderdale a little more than a year ago (or anybody watching the County Commission). His political ambitions were hardly a secret.

I've always found the treatment of Bolton fascinating.

The Sun Sentinel and Red Broward never seem to miss an opportunity to beat him up. Yet much of what Bolton gets criticized for is the same perfectly legal political activity that the downtown crowd and eastside insiders have practiced for decades.

Fundraising? Building alliances? Helping friends get elected? That's called politics. Apparently, it only becomes scandalous when Bolton does it.

Love him or hate him, Bolton has built a formidable political organization in central Broward.

But there's something else that separates Bolton from the usual downtown political crowd: He didn't wait for the establishment to give him a seat at the table. He built his own table and learned how to beat them at their own game.

Apparently, that's what really bothers some people.

Good luck, Marlon.