Will Robinson wins re-election as Florida House District 71 representative

State Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, easily outpaced Democratic challenger Andy Mele in Tuesday’s General Election to retain his Florida House District 71 set for another term.

Robinson received 49,572 votes, or 57.6% to Mele’s 36,434 votes, or 42.3%.

Robinson, who was first elected to the seat in 2018 after defeating Tracy Pratt with 56% of the vote, presented a stark contrast from his opponent, saying during the campaign that, “Voters can decide what fits their vision best.”

District 71 includes parts of Palmetto, Bradenton, Sarasota and the barrier islands.

Mele called for a change given the district has been controlled by Republicans for decades, but it didn’t happen.

Mele was unable to be reached Tuesday night for reaction.

Mele previously said the Republican-controlled Legislature’s failure to do enough to address the “apocalyptic” red tide of 2018 is why he ran for office. Robinson countered those claims, noting that lawmakers made significant financial investments into studying and potentially mitigating red tide.

Robinson labeled Mele as a tax-and-spend Democrat during the campaign. Mele did not necessarily dispute that claim, noting that all taxes are not bad while proposing an increase in sales tax for alcohol and tobacco to pay for solar energy policies.

“I’m just ecstatic by the margin of victory,” Robinson said. “It was a tough election cycle and we had a very credible opponent that did a good job. I give him credit for running a good race, but thrilled our message resonated with the voters of Manatee and Sarasota counties.”

Robinson said there couldn’t have been more differences between himself and Mele when it came to policy.

“It gave the voters a great choice between two different candidates,” Robinson said. “We have a great deal of policy differences, but the difference between now and two years ago is that I have a record and I’m proud of that record and what the Florida Legislature has done. I can’t wait to go back to work.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:33 PM.