Russell Gets Rematch With Brown-Waite

John Russell will get another chance to unseat U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite this November.

Russell, a 52-year-old acute care nurse practitioner from Dade City, had 51 percent of the vote in the three-way Democratic primary with most precincts reporting at press time Tuesday.

"Grandma" Carol Castagnero, a retired teacher from Lakeland, had 38 percent. Disabled former truck driver H. David Werder of Spring Hill had 10 percent.

In Hernando, Russell had 55 percent with 53 of 56 precincts reporting.

District 5 includes all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and parts of Lake, Levy, Marion, Pasco and Polk counties.

Russell declined to comment Tuesday night, preferring to wait until the precincts in all of the counties had reported.

During his campaign, Russell said he's ready to take a second shot at wresting the seat that Brown-Waite, a Brooksville Republican, took from Karen Thurman in 2004.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native won the 2006 Democratic primary and got 40 percent of the vote against Brown-Waite in the general election.

Russell has been criticized by some for being abrasive and some editorial boards in the 5th District made it clear they endorsed him only reluctantly as the best in a weak field.

He has vowed to mount a calmer but still vigorous campaign emphasizing an immediate but systematic withdrawal of American troops from Iraq; a single-payer health care plan; a national catastrophic insurance fund; and an aggressive public investment in research and development of alternative energy sources.

U.S. House District 5 Democratic Primary unofficial results,

with 53 or 56 precincts reporting

John Russell 9,533 votes (51.3 percent).

Carol Castagnero 7,132 votes (38.4 percent).

H. David Werder 1,920 (10.3).