Navarro Works Leisure World

In last year’s District 4 special election, Nancy Navarro lost to Don Praisner in part because of her failure to carry Leisure World. Her campaign seems intent on improving that performance.

In 2008, Nancy Navarro lost to Mr. Praisner by 4.8 points (44.3%-39.5%), but she lost to him in the two Leisure World precincts by 15 points (47%-32%). Those precincts had a combined turnout rate of 20.5% - 9.3 points ahead of the district as a whole – and gave Mr. Praisner 44% of his victory margin.

A month ago, I wrote that Navarro was the only candidate who could afford to lose Leisure World, but she needed to maintain her foothold there. I justified that statement by noting that Navarro won almost as many precincts as Mr. Praisner (21 vs. 22) and thereby started with a decent level of support and name recognition around the district. I also wrote that Ben Kramer and Cary Lamari each needed to win Leisure World to win the race. So far, none of my informants have disagreed with me about the critical position of Leisure World in this election.

On Thursday March 19, Navarro turned up the heat on her rivals by participating in a “Celebration of Women’s History Month” event at Leisure World. The event, which was also attended by County Council Members Valerie Ervin and Nancy Floreen and School Board members Judy Docca and Shirley Brandman, drew more than 40 Leisure World residents. The Navarro campaign posted photos on their Facebook page and we reprint them below. Note the last photo, which shows campaign volunteers signing up supporters.