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Alan Johnson was again on the ballot for Mayor-Commissioner of St. Pete Beach, but this time he failed to find success.
With 55% of the vote, challenger Adrian Petrila took the seat, denying Johnson a third term.
The St. Pete Beach race was arguably the highest profile of the beach contests, and the most divisive.
While the Mayor’s race is a nonpartisan job, Johnson is a Democrat and Petrila is a Republican.
The race saw a flurry of attack ads from shell organizations, including an anti-Johnson mailer calling Johnson a “Charlie Crist Democrat.”
Anti-Petrila mailers called him a “risky” outsider.
– Peter Schorsch, Florida Politics