Incumbent Cobb and lawyer Allan hold their leads
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Jack St. Arnold and Linda Allan, two Pinellas civil attorneys, appeared headed to victory Tuesday night in the race for Pinellas-Pasco circuit judgeships. They joined Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb, who was headed to a convincing victory, and 33-year-old New Port Richey civil attorney John Renke III, who appeared on his way to an upset over Declan Mansfield, a former prosecutor and respected Pasco criminal defense and personal injury lawyer. It was chaos in a fifth judicial race, where Linda Babb, George H. Brown and Sarah Chaves were locked in a tight battle for the Group 26 seat, traditionally based in Dade City. In the race for Group 41, a new seat created by the Legislature to deal with growing caseloads in Pinellas, Allan held a sizable lead over M. Malinda Ottinger and William L. Vinson. With three-fourths of the precincts reporting, Allan, 47, had more than half of the vote. If that trend holds, she will avoid a runoff. Vinson was next with nearly one-third of the vote. In the race for the Group 28 Pinellas-Pasco judicial seat, St. Arnold, 50, held a comfortable lead over personal injury lawyer Robert “Bo” Michael in the race to replace the longest-serving circuit judge in Florida, the retiring Judge David Seth Walker. St. Arnold, who specializes in estate planning, probate and real estate law, is a former Dunedin city commissioner. More : sptimes.com |