Nov 5, 2008 12:00 am US/Eastern
Race For Broward County Sheriff Incredibly Close
Click Here For Complete Coverage Of Campaign '08
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
-
-
Al Lamberti (left) and Scott Israel are the front runners in this year's race for Broward Sheriff.
CBS
Poll
Are you glad the 2008 election campaigns are almost over?
You need the latest Flash player to view our Poll.
Click here to download.
Click here to
bypass this detection if you already
have the latest Flash Player.
The battle for the title of Broward County Sheriff could be won, but it'll be a close call. With 95% of precincts reporting, Sheriff Al Lamberti is leading Scott Israel, 51% to 49%.
One of the biggest races on the ballot in Broward County is between two men with 30 years of law enforcement service who are battling to be the county's top cop. Republican Al Lamberti and Democrat Scott Israel are vying for the post of Broward County Sheriff.
Lamberti was appointed sheriff by Gov. Charlie Crist last year after Ken Jenne resigned amid corruption charges and it's a race that has turned nasty.
Scott Israel spent Election Day still shaking hands and giving out hugs as he stumped for last minute votes across Broward County Tuesday. He's thrilled the finish line to campaign 2008 is in sight.
"We feel great. We feel confident, we feel blessed and we'll see what happens," said Israel.
Sheriff Al Lamberti waited in line for more than an hour to vote at a polling place in Margate. He says it felt strange to vote for himself, and he hopes a majority of voters do as well.
"I feel pretty good. After a year it's the end of the line and we can tell if all the hard work will pay off," said Lamberti.
The powerful position of Sheriff brings an enormous workload. The Sheriff's Office has more than 6-thousand employees and a budget of nearly $700 million. Lamberti charges Israel does not have the experience to run the agency. Israel counters he has experience, as police chief in North Bay Village and as a high ranking officer with Ft. Lauderdale Police.
But this race may come down to party affiliation. Lamberti is a Republican in a heavily Democratic county. Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one.
This race also saw some nasty attack ads.
Republicans attacked Israel for being investigated ten times by internal affairs while working as a cop. Israel was cleared in all the investigations.
Democrats have tried to tie Lamberti to the Republican Party and criticized him for appointing an all-white transition team when he became sheriff. We'll soon learn whether the attacks swayed voters one way or the other.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
