Republican Joe Negron

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley wasn't running for Congress, but his name was still on the ballot in Florida as voters picked a successor to the disgraced Republican lawmaker.

Democrat political newcomer Tim Mahoney defeated GOP replacement candidate and state Rep. Joe Negron for the U.S. House seat in Florida's 16th Congressional District.

Negron conceded to Mahoney in a phone call.

"We knew that when the Republican Party put in over $2 million that they were going to do a good job at getting out their base," Mahoney told The Associated Press after speaking with Negron by telephone. "They picked a good candidate in Joe Negron."

Negron then gave his concession speech to supporters in Stuart.

"I appreciate all you have done to make this competitive," Negron said. "Even though we've come up short, we ran a competitive race and I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish together."

The 16th Congressional District has long been considered a Republican stronghold, as it stretches through affluent parts of the Sunshine State including Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties.

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Foley served the district from 1995 until his resignation Sept. 29 following news reports he had exchanged sexually explicit computer messages with a teen boy in the House page program.

Before the cybersex scandal, there wasn't much interest in the race and Foley was considered an easy win. Following his resignation, he remained a major theme in the race.

Mahoney's campaign latched onto multiple Republican scandals and GOP leaders' alleged cover-up of what they knew about Foley's inappropriate contacts.

Negron, of Stuart, tried to distance himself from Foley, but he was hurt because Foley's resignation came too late to get his name on the ballot.

Elections supervisors in the district agreed to post notices at the polls informing voters that a vote for Foley would actually count for Negron, but only after a fight from the state Democratic Party, which argued the messages amounted to unfair electioneering. A judge eventually sided with Republicans, as long as the notices also mentioned Mahoney and unaffiliated candidate Emmie Ross.

It was good news for Negron, who had just over a month to campaign. He even came up with a catchy campaign slogan, hoping to get his message out: ''Punch Foley for Negron.''

The Republican Party refused to give up on the U.S. House seat vacated by Foley, pouring money into Negron's campaign and counting on local GOP loyalists to help the state representative against Mahoney, a businessman who was a Republican until last year.

Mahoney campaigned largely on the themes of restoring morality to Congress, developing a new strategy for the war in Iraq and finding solutions to Florida's skyrocketing homeowners insurance rates.

Negron didn't shy away from his Republican views, expressing support for President Bush's stance against embryonic stem cell research and the war on terror.

In a pre-election debate, Negron mused at how suddenly his life had changed with Foley's resignation.

"This has been just about the ... craziest month of my life," he said.

And although Negron supporters may have had to choose Foley's name on the ballot today, the former Republican congressman apparently wasn't among them.

Foley, who is registered to vote in Fort Pierce, never requested an absentee ballot for the election and hadn't cast a ballot locally by late afternoon, according to St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker.

Foley checked into an Arizona rehabilitation facility for alcoholism treatment Oct. 1. The Associated Press reported Nov. 1 that he had extended his stay.

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