Six people are running in the Feb. 15 special election for Duval County Supervisor of Elections. Accompanying their responses to a News4Jax.com candidate questionnaire are the videos of their interviews on the morning show last month.

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Lois Chepenik

Video

Lois Chepenik

Age: 61

Family: Husband, Alan. Two children, five grandchildren.

Occupation: Non-profit management.

Education: Bachelor's degree from University of Florida. Master's in Special education from University of Florida.

Party: No party affiliation

Political Experience: I have never run for or held political office -- worked on numerous campaigns.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. To restore trust and integrity to the office and the process.
2. To provide leadership of the SOE's staff.
3. To provide legal, accurate, accessible and fair elections with a paper trail.

Why should people vote for you? I'm not a politician and am running with no party affiliation (NPA). We need to take the politics out of the office. I have managed a budget, a staff of 12, a board of 30 and thousands of volunteers.

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? That I took the politics out of the Office and restored trust in the process.

Campaign Web site: LoisForSupervisor.com

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Jerry Holland

Age: 50

Family: Married 29 years to Beverly Holland; one son, Brian, age 22.

Video

Jerry Holland

Occupation: Business owner, City Council member, high school varsity baseball coach.

Education: Master's degree in education, University of North Florida. Bachelor's of science in transportation and logistics, UNF. Bachelors of Science in computer science, Jones College.

Party: Republican

Political Experience: Member of the Jacksonville City Council from 1999 to present. Served as Council president 2002-2003. President of Northeast Florida Regional Council, 2003-2004.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. Have the supervisor's office run in such a professional manner as to never bring any negative light on our City or the office.
2. Establish an early voting site in each of the 14 City Council districts making early voting accessible to everyone.
3. Create a voter mobile to take the supervisor's office to the public to better educate and assist voter education, making the Supervisor of elections the most accessible elective official, known for a voter friendly office that will always ensure a fair election.

Why should people vote for you? I am the only candidate that has the experience of working in the elections office. I have served on the canvassing board certifying four major elections and the equipment used in these elections. I have served as a poll worker in one of the largest precincts in Jacksonville and completed all the poll worker training.

My formal education is a match for the position. I have a master's in education. The supervisor's office is the number one employer of temporary workers for a single day that must be trained and educated. The additional degrees I have earned include bachelor's degree in transportation and logistics and bachelor's degree in computer science, which match the needs for this office.

Finally, I have proven with my current elected position that I possess the leadership skills and sufficient knowledge of the City's budget in order to provide the needed skills to achieve success.

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? Someone who was accessible to all citizens and operated the office with the highest level of integrity and trust in such manner that would never bring any negative light on our city or the office.

Campaign Web site: VoteForHolland.com

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Andy Johnson

Age: 52

Family: Wife, Mary Davis Johnson, school teacher, college professor. B.A., Dartmouth. Masters Degree, J.U. Son #1, Drew Johnson, B.S. at U.F., MBA at UNF, AOL supervisor. Son #2, Daniel Johnson, B.S. at U.F., working on MBA at UNF, works at Merrill-Lynch. Daughter, Kate Johnson, sophomore at U.F., winner of a bunch of scholarships.

Video

Andy Johnson

Occupation: Radio talk-show host.

Education: Paxon High School, degree in 1971, where I won the top statewide scholarship award that year for the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the National Honor Society and the Farm Bureau. I was salutatorian, making only one B in grades 6-12. National Merit Winner. Top clarinetist in the All-American Band. Top judge of dairy cattle in the U.S. for the 4H. President of the Duval County Association of Student Councils. B.A., Dartmouth College, 1975, where I was president of the Young Democrats and active in nearly all the campus activities, band, orchestra, political, debate, etc. J.D., December 1975, from the University of Florida School of Law.

Party: Democrat

Political Experience: Served as the youngest member of the legislature at the time, 1978-1982, first elected at age 25 to the Florida House. I was the sponsor of more substantive and important and worthwhile successful bills than any other member of the legislature at that time other than a few senior citizen committee chairmen.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. We need to clean up the mess. No more dead voters. No more duplicate voters. No more confusion. No more lies. No more tricks. No cheating a little bit for Democrats. No cheating a little bit for Republicans. Restore faith and trust. Restore integrity. Clean up the mess.
2. Implement a voter pamphlet plan where each candidate gets on page of the pamphlet which is distributed by mail to all voters thirty days before the election. Same plan as what they do in California. No cost at all because I will pay for it with the same money wasted by Stafford and Carlberg and Scheu on self-promotional mailings, billboards, and refrigerator magnets.
3. Fix the silly Web site. We have the worst Web site in America. The SOE has not even yet finished posting all the campaign reports for ANY election. Incomplete reports or no reports so far for ALL elections. I will set the national standard. People will come to Jacksonville, not to laugh at us, as in the past, but so that they can learn to be like me.

Why should people vote for you?

Because I am the only candidate who states flatly that I am NOT satisfied. Voters who are satisfied with how things are should NOT vote for me. All of my opponents basically agree that everything down at the SOE is in pretty good shape. I disagree. There can be no restoration of trust in the office or in the office if we elect somebody who defends the status quo. I will clean up the mess. I will not cheat for anyone.
Because I will write the book on national standards for anyone who wants to be the SOE. I will write this book within 60 days of taking office. It will be a tentative book. This book, I hope, will then be revised fifty time in the next few years as we develop a national consensus on what is ethical. I do not believe it is ethical, for example, for Bill Scheu or his wife to support one of my opponents. I do not believe it is ethical for Stafford to have served, while the SOE, as a member of the executive committee of a political party. I do not believe it is ethical for Stafford to have lied to me about the total count on discarded ballots in 2000. I do not believe it is ethical for Stafford to have continued to collect a paycheck for two years after he quit coming to work.
Because I will create a voter pamphlet which all other Florida counties will probably decide to copy.
Because I will keep the office open on weekdays until 7 p.m., with a happier staff and with less cost, total, than the present system.
Because I will be thrifty and frugal and I will protect our taxpayers. I believe that our government is too big, too complicated, too far out of control. I will NOT build a new office for the SOE; my opponents want to build a new palace!!! I will NOT buy a $100,000 fancy Winnebago to use as a voter-mobile; my opponents all like that idea!!! I will save money and reduce costs and I will make sure that the budget is smaller not bigger when I take over. I will not increase the pay for the people who work at the polls; all my opponents support increasing the pay for the people at the polls!

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? hope to be remembered for restoring trust in the office and for setting new national standards of ethical conduct for the SOE and for being the first in Florida to mail out a county-wide voter pamphlet and for creating the very best SOE Web site in the entire United States.

Campaign Web site: AndyJohnson.us

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Warren Jones

Age: 54

Family: Wife, Vanessa; son, Mycal.

Video

Warren Jones

Occupation: 20-year real estate professional with The Luke Group.

Education: Bachelor of science degree in political science from the University of Florida.

Party: Democrat

Political Experience: 20 years on the Jacksonville City Council, two terms as City Council President. Chairman of the Duval County Tourist Development Council; chairman of the City Council finance committee.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. Restoring voter trust in the Duval County elections office.
2. Ensuring that there are a minimum of 15 early voting site in the county.
3. Ensuring that all polling locations meet ADA requirements.

Why should people vote for you? Of all the good candidates now running for this office, I am the most experienced, most qualified and most trusted. I have the ability to build consensus among diverse groups and accomplish goals in elected office.

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? For conducting fair, honest and accurate elections.

Campaign Web site: none

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Faye Rustin

Age: 54

Family: Husband, John Logan

Video

Faye Rustin

Occupation: City Council member.

Education: High school; one year vocational school.

Party: Republican

Political Experience: Elected city council member at large, 1999.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. Restore public trust. Better communicate (with) public.
2. Education/voters.
3. Absentee ballot, early voting and out of county/military voting.

Why should people vote for you? I am the only candidate who has won a county-wide race. Leadership and people skills.

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? That I made a difference.

Campaign Web site: FayeRuston4t.com

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Lemuel Sharp Jr.

Age: 74

Family: Divorced. Two daughters; six grandchildren.

Video

Lemuel Sharp Jr.

Occupation: Retired supervisor at the Jacksonville Sheriff's office. Supervisor, general contractor.

Education: Attended University of Florida - no degree. Northwestern University Traffic Institute - public relations.

Party: Republican

Political Experience: Candidate for sheriff. Worked in several campaigns.

What do you see as the top three issues in this race?

1. The ability to assure the voters that votes will be counted.
2. Assure the voters the early voting will continue and the absentee ballot signatures will be verified.
3. The supervisor has a responsibility to the voters to be informed as to how, when and where to vote.

Why should people vote for you? With my experience as supervisor in a number of projects in the sheriff's department and as a general contractor, I will devote the next two years making this office and office for Jacksonville to be proud of.

What would you hope to be remembered for after leaving office? That I have lived up to my promise to the citizens of Jacksonville their votes were counted and the office was run in a fair and honest manner for everyone.

Campaign Web site: none.