Hamman has inside track

Brian Hamman now has the inside track on winning the Lee County commission seat vacated by Tammy Hall when elections are held in November 2014.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott recently appointed Hamman, 32, to the Lee County Commission after Hall resigned in September because she agreed to plead guilty to a count of wire fraud for embezzling money from her campaign account. Hamman's term will last until next November, when Hall's term would have ended.

Before the governor appointed him, Hamman already was outpacing rivals on fundraising, accumulating more than $12,000 in campaign contributions so far. Now he's got the incumbent's edge.

Hamman, a CenturyLink executive who grew up in Lee County, is seen as a swing vote for a more pro-business commission that will keep government expenditures in check. He'll join two other business-friendly commissioners on the board, including Larry Kiker and Cecil Pendergrass.