Nugent crushes Sager in congressional race

Sheriff Richard Nugent, criticized by many for his backdoor entry into the 5th Congressional District race four months ago as the hand-picked successor of incumbent Ginny Brown-Waite, cruised to victory Tuesday in the Republican primary.

Nugent, 59, defeated fellow Republican and avowed tea party candidate Jason Sager, whose controversial association with a New York City activist group in 2003 may have cost him some of the conservative vote.

With all 57 precincts reporting, Nugent picked up 68.20 percent of the vote, compared to 31.80 for Sager. The results are unofficial until certified by the canvassing board.

In the November general election, Nugent will face Democrat Jim Piccillo, who is running unopposed for his party's nomination.

Nugent, speaking from his victory celebration Tuesday night in Spring Hill, said he is obviously happy with the results and will redouble his efforts over the next few months.

"We're glad to be through the first step," he said. "Now we're on to the general election."

Nugent said he believes his experience made the difference.

"The voters are very intuitive," Nugent said. "They understand the issues and I really think they're looking at the experience when they voted for me. That's the one thing we brought to the table."

With about 890,000 people, the district - which covers Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Levy, Marion, Pasco, Polk and Sumter counties - is the largest in Florida and seventh largest in the country.

Sager said earlier he would support Nugent in his bid for the congressional seat.

Throughout the campaign, Nugent touted his 10 years in law enforcement in Hernando County as preparation for Congress.

Nugent said he wasn't out to make a career of politics and told voters during candidate forums he would be the best choice to go to Washington and clean up the mess President Barack Obama and his administration have created.

"I don't need a job," Nugent told Hernando Today. "I was going to retire. So I can do things for the right reasons and not worry about getting re-elected."

Nugent's term as sheriff expires in 2012.

If he wins the House seat in November, he will step down as sheriff at the end of this year and the governor would appoint someone to complete his term.

Blaise Ingoglia, chairman of the Hernando County Republican Executive Committee, did not endorse either candidate for the primary.

But with the primary over, the committee will support the victor.

"We're going to get behind the winner," Ingoglia said Tuesday. "The seat has to stay in Republican hands."

The Sager-Nugent race developed into one of the more volatile ones of the primary season, especially after Brown-Waite announced just minutes before the end of qualifying period that she would not seek reelection due to health concerns.

She asked her constituents to support her friend Nugent, who quickly assembled a campaign staff and had to deflect criticism and calls by Sager and Piccillo to step down as sheriff.

In the last few months, the campaign turned contentious as both sides fired broadsides against the other.

Nugent attacked Sager and said he was forced to run because of his opponent's track record.

"Ultimately, the choice I had at that time was to run or let an inexperienced, unemployed, constitutional hypocrite who talks a good game but lacks any substance, walk away with the Republican primary," Nugent said.

Nugent even questioned whether Sager embraced true Republican values. The sheriff often referred to him as a "Nurepublican" and a "9/12er."

Sager, 36, was criticized for accepting some $18,000 in unemployment benefits after vowing earlier in the campaign he would never receive government assistance.

Sager said he was forced to go on the defensive because of a series of untrue press releases from the Nugent camp.

In 2008, Republican Jason Sager burst onto the local scene after he formed a nonprofit group dedicated to the traditional values of the Founding Fathers and a strict adherence to the Constitution.

Sager has been unemployed since September 2006, when his job at an audio-visual company in Clearwater went bankrupt.