JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We won’t get to vote for our representatives in the Florida Legislature, area courthouses and school districts don’t come for two months, but we now have a complete for sure who is be running for statewide office as well as sheriffs, county commissioners and school boards. (Congressional matchups were announced in April.)
Candidate qualifying for state and local races across Florida closed at noon Friday. Scroll down to see a list of who is running in some of the races on the ballot in your district and county.
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Florida Democratic Party Chair Terri Rizzo was pleased that her party is represented in almost all races, saying said more campaigns boost turnout.
“When local candidates run, it brings more votes. People run on local issues,” Rizzo said.
Early voting in the primary begins the week of Aug. 3 and primary election day is Aug. 18. Some non-partisan races like school board and judges could be settled then, but if no one gets more than 50% of the vote or it’s a partisan race and there’s an opponent in another party, the race goes to the Nov. 3 general election.
Especially because of the coronavirus pandemic, both Democrats and Republicans are encouraging people to vote by mail this year. You can request that ballot now by visiting your county supervisor of election’s website and expect it in the mail late next month.
Florida Senate, District 5 (Baker, Bradford Clay, Columbia, Union and other counties west to the Gulf Coast)
An open seat as Sen. Rob Bradley cannot run for re-election due to term limits.
| Melina Barratt | Democrat |
| Jennifer Bradley | Republican |
| Jason Holifield | Republican |
Florida Senate District 7 (represents St. Johns, Flagler and part of Volusia county)
| Heather Hunter | Democrat |
| Travis Hutson (incumbent) | Republican |
Florida House District 10 (Alachua, Baker and Columbia counties)
| Rock Aboujaoude Jr. | Democrat |
| Chuck Brannon (incumbent) | Republican |
Florida House District 11 (Duval and Nassau counties)
| Cord Byrd (incumbent) | Republican |
| Joshua Hicks | Democrat |
Florida House District 12 (Duval County)
| Emmanuel Blimie | Democrat |
| Spyros “Speed” Chialtas | Democrat |
| Colin Ross McArthur | Republican |
| Clay Yarborough (incumbent) | Republican |
Florida House District 13 (Duval County)
| Tracie Davis (incumbent) | Democrat |
| Cynthia Smith | Democrat |
Florida House District 14 (Duval County)
| Kimberly Daniels (incumbent) | Democrat |
| Angie Nixon | Democrat |
| Nancy Lynn Kapetanovic | Write-in |
Florida House District 15 (Duval County)
| Wyman Duggan (incumbent) | Democrat |
| Jay McGovern | Democrat |
| Tammyette Thomas | Democrat |
Florida House District 16 (Duval County)
| Jason Fischer (incumbent) | Republican |
| Ben Marcus | Democrat |
Florida House District 17 (St. Johns County)
| Dave Rogers | Democrat |
| Cyndi Stevenson (incumbent) | Republican |
Florida House District 18 (Clay County)
| Leroy Anthony Edwards | Demoncrat |
| Sam Garrison | Republican |
| Ken Willey | LIbertarian |
Florida House District 19 (Bradford, Clay, Putnam and Union counties)
| Kimberly Dugger | Democrat |
| Bobby Payne (incumbent) | Republican |
Florida House District 20 (Alachua County)
| Yvonne Hayes Hinson | Democrat |
| Rodney Long | Democrat |
Florida House District 21 (Alachua County)
| Chuck Clemons (incumbent) | Republican |
| Kayser Enneking | Democrat |
Florida House District 24 (Flagler and St. Johns counties)
| Adam Morley | Democrat |
| Paul Renner (incumbent) | Republican |
Duval County School Board
Because many of Jacksonville races are municipal and were elected last year, the most prominent races on the local ballots will be for school board.
District 1: Kelly Coker, Kory Von Leue and Lew A. Welge
District 2: Robert “Bob” Abene, Christopher P. Guerrieri, Jacob C. Jacobs, Cindy Pearson
District 5: Warren Jones (incumbent), Brenda Ann Jordan
District 7: Lori Hershey (incumbent), Matt Schellenberg, John Turner
St. Johns County Sheriff
Sheriff Neal Perry is retiring after five terms, leaving three candidates for the open position:
Rob Hardwick and Chris Strickland are Republicans. Scott C. Boutwell qualified as a write-in for the race.
Candidates for St. Johns County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Clay County Sheriff
The is not an open race for sheriff, but he has drawn six opponents:
Francis Bourrie, Ben Carroll, Michelle Cook, Darryl Daniels (incumbent), Harold Rutledge and Mike Taylor are all Republicans. Catherine D. Webb is a write-in qualified in the race
Candidates for Clay County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Putnam County Sheriff
H.D. “Gator” Deloach (incumbent), a Republican, faces Edison Edison, an independent.
Candidates for Putnam County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Flagler County Sheriff
Democrat Larry Jones is challenging incumbent Republican Sheriff Rick Staly
Candidates for Flagler County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Bradford County Sheriff
Glenn Gnann is challenging incumbent Sheriff Gordon Smith. Both are Republicans.
Candidates for Bradford County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Nassau County
Sheriff Bill Leeper is unopposed. Candidates for Nassau County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Columbia County
Columbia County Sheriff Mike Hunter is unopposed. Candidates for Columbia County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.
Alachua County Sheriff
Incumbent Sheriff Sadie Darnell is being challenged by Clovis Watson Jr., both are Democrats. Robert Walter Brinkman qualified as a write-in.
Candidates for Alachua County School Board and County Commission will be added to this list soon.