By MICHELLE HOLLINGER

MHollinger@sfltimes.com

With low voter turnout in all three South Florida Counties, most results were not surprising. In a resounding victory, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson received nearly 80 percent of the vote in a landslide win against former Miami Hurricane Randall Hill. Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness held onto his seat despite a close race that resulted in him receiving just enough votes to avoid a run-off. Holness (50.7 percent) beat his challenger Sen. Chris Smith (49.3 percent) by less than 300 votes.

In Miami-Dade County, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert easily won re-election, winning 69 percent of the vote. The heated battle for the District 1 School Board Seat will not be determined until November when incumbent Wilbert “Tee” Holloway faces off again against Steve Gallon III, who was endorsed by several prominent community leaders, including H.T. Smith, former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Betty T. Ferguson and Pastor Arthur Jackson, senior minister of Antioch Baptist Church of Miami Gardens.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is returning to Washington, D.C. despite a shaky summer that saw her abruptly step down as chair of the Democratic National Convention. Former judge Ian Richards is heading for a run-off in his attempt to return to the Broward County judiciary. Richards got 44.5 percent of the vote. He will face Nina Weatherly Dipietro (32.4 percent) in November.

Attorney Bradley Harper can now be called Judge Harper, winning the Group 15 Palm Beach County judicial race with 52.6 percent of the vote. And Rosalind Osgood returns to her Broward County school Board District 5 seat with 58.8 percent.

The crowded race to re- place State Representative Hazelle Rogers resulted in Lauderdale Lakes Mayor Barrington Russell eking out a win with 26.8 percent of the vote. The second and third place candidates, Robert Lynch and Anika Omphroy, received 25.2 percent and 24.5 percent of the vote, respectively.

Brenda Snipes easily won her bid to continue as Broward County’s Supervisor of Elections with 76 percent of the vote and Scott Israel retained his job with 64.5 percent of the votes.

With barely 16 percent of its registered voters bothering to go to the polls, Broward County has the distinction of having the lowest percentage of voters in the state. Miami-Dade County did not fare much better, with just over 20 percent of its 1,307,458 registered active voters participating in the election. Perhaps living up to its name, Liberty County in northern Florida, had the highest percentage of voter turnout with nearly 60 percent of its registered active voters going to the polls.