MIAMI -- A handful of voters in hurricane-ravaged Dade County, who will send Florida's first black to Congress since Reconstruction, cast ballots Tuesday in a primary election delayed one week by Hurricane Andrew.
In Congressional District 17, a kite-shaped district drawn to take in most of the black communities from north to south Dade, voters were choosing among three black Democrats. There is no Republican opposition, so the Democratic winner will be unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election.
The candidates are Donald Jones, 40, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Miami; state Rep. Carrie Meek, 66, an assistant to the president at Miami-Dade Community College North; and Darryl Reaves, 31, a lawyer elected to the state House in 1990 to replace his ailing father.
In Florida's 23rd Congressional District Democratic primary, lawyer Alcee Hastings battled state Rep. Bill Clark for a spot in the Oct. 1 runoff election against state Rep. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach. Clark and Hastings each drew about 27 percent of the vote in the district's six counties that voted last Tuesday, while Frankel drew 35.5 percent. Only 3 percent of the district's voters live in Dade County.
Hastings was a former federal judge who was impeached by the House and removed by the Senate in 1989 on allegations he took bribes during his 10 years on the bench. He had been acquitted of all charges in court.
On the Republican side, Edward Fielding of Martin County and Oliver Parker of Fort Lauderdale were neck-and-neck at about 37.5 percent each while Jerome Gray of Fort Lauderdale had about 25 percent after the Sept. 1 voting.
Primary balloting in Dade County was postponed one week because Hurricane Andrew heavily damaged or destroyed 100 polling places in the southern part of the county. The Army helped set up 65 polling places in tents, but turnout was expected to be low.
Dade voters also are voting in the Senate primary, but again were not expected to affect the outcome. Democratic Sen. Bob Graham easily defeated Jim Mahorner in the Sept. 1 voting and on the Republican side, former Rep. Bill Grant won easily.
