Lisa Cullen is one step closer to her reign as Brevard’s tax collector.
Cullen easily defeated County Commissioner Rita Pritchett in Tuesday’s primary election. Cullen received 50,133 votes (84.06%) while Pritchett received 9,506 votes (15.94%).
Cullen, a resident of Canaveral Groves, has won three elections unopposed since taking office in 2009. Before taking the helm of the agency, she worked for decades in the Internal Revenue Service.
“I’m so honored by the voters of Brevard County,” Cullen told FLORIDA TODAY Tuesday night. “This has been my career and it’s been a career of service and one that I love. I love Brevard County. We’re going to keep fighting until the end.”
Who is next in the race for Brevard County Tax Collector?
Cullen will run in the November 5 general election against a candidate whose name will not appear on the ballot.
The annual salary of a tax collector is $184,356 and the term of office is four years.
Because there is an unregistered candidate, state election law allowed only Republicans to vote in the Republican primary for tax collector. Had there been only Republicans and no unregistered candidate, the primary would have been open to all voters, including Democrats, members of minor political parties, and voters with no party affiliation.
The candidate who is not eligible to be included on the list of candidates, Daniel Edwin Lopez, submitted his candidacy just before the deadline. Lopez is a 27-year-old Cocoa resident with no political experience.
Lopez previously told FLORIDA TODAY he had no plans to raise funds and said his campaign strategy included “some petitioning.” Lopez, a former U.S. Marine, told FLORIDA TODAY he had been interested in running for office since he was a child. But reporters found no evidence that Lopez had ever been politically active or even voted in an election.
Lopez is connected to Pritchett through their shared connection to New Life Space Coast Church in Titusville, where Pritchett has long served as an administrator and radio host and Lopez works as a youth pastor, according to his LinkedIn page.
He had previously downplayed the connection between himself and Pritchett and denied that Pritchett or anyone close to her had asked him to run as a so-called “ghost candidate.” These candidates run to influence the primaries.
“It was purely a mental influence of the man up there,” he said.
Results
After the results from 159 of 162 constituencies have been reported, here are the total numbers of votes cast:
Cullen: 50,133 (84.06%)
Pritchett: 9,506 (15.94%)
