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Hernando Today

Nancy Robinson's Husband Runs For Office

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By MICHAEL D. BATES, Hernando Today

Published: February 20, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Michael Robinson of Spring Hill pre-qualified Tuesday to run for county commissioner representing District 5 in eastern Hernando County.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because Michael Robinson is the husband of former county commissioner Nancy Robinson, who spent the last 14 months battling in the courts to get her old county commission job back.

After a long, sometimes contentious legal battle, Robinson lost.

Now, 30 days after losing her court battle, Michael Robinson has thrown his hat into the political ring. A Republican, he will be running against incumbent Democrat Chris Kingsley.

Robinson, 66, insists that he is his own man and his wife will not be involved.

"Nobody pulls my strings," he said.

He said there are plenty of examples in politics where husbands and wives led separate political careers. This is one of those cases, he said.

Robinson said the decision to run is his own.

"She had nothing to do with it," he said. "She's her own person."

Nancy Robinson, he said, is busy working 40 hours a week as manager of a local health care company and is too busy to get back into politics.

"She's finished with politics," he said. "She had her 14 years."

A retired Philadelphia police lieutenant, Robinson moved to Florida in 1987. He worked as a criminal investigator for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs until 2001.

Robinson said he will push for a charter government in Hernando County because it allows for more accountability and gives people control of their destiny.

If elected, he said he would vote to have an appointed charter commission, made up of county residents.

Robinson said he would also work to reduce government spending by consolidating county departments and demand efficiency.

Last month, a state appellate court judge affirmed a local circuit judge's decision that Rocco has a legal right to the District 2 seat, formerly held by Nancy Robinson.
Nancy Robinson had filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she violated election laws on residency requirements at the time of the 2006 election.
Nancy Robinson said Rocco didn't live in the district she was representing.

But the Florida 5th District Court of Appeals thought otherwise and affirmed a 2006 ruling by Circuit Court Judge John Booth.

If he wins, Michael Robinson will have to move to the eastside because Spring Hill is not in District 5.

"Around the time of the election, we'll probably be living in the area," he said.

The irony is not lost on Rocco.

"It's funny," she said. "It's just really funny. If (Nancy Robinson) wanted this thing so badly, why didn't she come out (and run)? Why did he come out?

"I just find it to be extremely amusing. It's gotten to the point of being ridiculous."

Kingsley has two other Republican challengers to his seat: James Adkins and William Healis.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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