Incumbents rarely upset in Collier County elections

In Collier County politics, once elected officials are in, they're in for keeps.

A Daily News analysis of election results dating back 20 years showed that constitutional officers — like sheriff, clerk of courts and tax collector — and commissioners in Collier County are rarely voted out of office. And while the 10 challengers in the seven contested races are hoping to change that next week, experts said they may not be so lucky.

"It's pretty rare that an incumbent at the local level is voted out," said Peter Bergerson, a political science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.

That's definitely the case in Collier County.

Election records show the last time a constitutional officer or commissioner lost an election was 20 years ago.

Commissioners and constitutional officers in Collier County serve four-year terms and there are no term limits.

Carol Weissert, a political science professor and director of the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University, said while there isn't any hard evidence about incumbency retention rates at the local level, it definitely appears to be high.

Part of the reason, Weissert said, is because local elected officials are usually well known members of their community.

"The big advantage is name recognition," she said. "These constitutional officers have great name recognition. The tax bill comes with the tax collector's name on it. The sheriff is pretty well known."

Tim Durham, deputy supervisor of elections, said constitutional officers probably have a longer life span in office than most elected officials.

"We're not ... making policy, the role is more administering a specific type of service that requires a familiarity," Durham said. "I think generally speaking, with most constitutionals, they have more longevity in office because of the amount of specialization they have."

Collier County election records reflect just that. According to election records dating back to 1980, only one constitutional officer was voted out of office. That happened in 1992 when then-candiate Dwight Brock defeated then-Clerk of Courts Jim Giles.

That same year three sitting Collier County commissioners were also given pink slips.

Experts said there is one major exception to the incumbent retention rule — scandal.

"Scandal is the best predictor," Weissert said. "If there's a scandal, there it's more likely to see a turnover."

That was the case more than a decade ago when commissioners got swept up in a scandal surrounding Stadium Naples, a $100 million, first-of-its-kind golf stadium.

The facility was supposed to include luxury skyboxes and 12,000 seats surrounding the course's 18th hole. But the stadium was never built, and plans fell apart after a Daily News investigation revealed that an elected official had negotiated for a stake in the project before casting votes that would benefit his partners and stadium.

The controversy grew from there, and when it was all said and done, commissioners either stepped down or were removed for office. In 2000, three new commissioners were elected to replace those who were no longer on the board. Those commissioners are still sitting on the board, and all three face opposition next week.

Scandals don't happen often, and elected officials usually don't stay in office for life. Instead, Bergerson said, it's more common for someone to step down after a few terms in office.

"Most new members, and this tends to be true at the local level, come in because the incumbent decides 'I've had my term, I've accomplished goals,'" he said.

Bergerson didn't speculate about whether incumbents will retain their seats this election, but said if incumbents do their job and "truly are public servants," the likelihood of them being voted out is not very good.

"It's that familiarity issue," he said.