Santamaria’s third-place finish shows power of two-party system | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Lot's of Wednesday morning quarterbacking going on after Tuesday's election. Most of it concerned national politics, but there was also some grumbling about local politics. This was about a contested County Commission race, with three candidates. One candidate ran as an independent. Click title for link to article:

“I [County Commissioner Jess Santamaria] underestimated the power of the party and overestimated what I have done for the community over these past eight years,’’ he said.
Jess Santamaria shouldn’t have been surprised with the result, according to some political consultants.
Michelle Santamaria entered the race in June — nine months after McKinlay, who got an early start on securing endorsements and donations.
“Here’s a lesson learned for any candidate — the earlier you start, the better your chances,’’ said Rick Asnani, president of the West Palm Beach consulting firm Cornerstone Solutions.

Note the highlighted quote. That would tend to support our Commission's recent decision to move up the qualifying period which requires candidates to formally declare and put their name on the ballot about three months before the election. For a while, the deadline was only about six weeks away from election day.