Alachua County's House, Senate candidates set for primary, general elections

As election season approaches, Florida candidates are beginning to rally and kickoff campaigning efforts against their opponents.

Last week, the state's qualifying ended for candidates looking to be on the primary and general election ballots for August and November. The races will include the governor, Congress, and U.S. senators, as well as local elections for this year's midterm election.

In Alachua County, state Senate and House seats also are up for grabs and the incumbents are hoping to fight off their challengers.

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Currently, the Republican Party holds the majority in the state Senate with 23 members to 16 Democratic Party members. Republicans have long held control of Florida, dating back to 1995. In the House, 76 Republicans are nearly double the 42 Democrats in office, a hold the GOP has held since 1997.

Here are your candidates for state office:

State Senate, District 9

Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, has held the county's primary Senate seat since first being elected in 2016 after previously serving as a House representative.

The seat spans most of Alachua, Levy and Marion counties.

Perry grew up in Gainesville and graduated from Buchholz High School. His father, Nathan W. Perry was a UF professor and Korean War veteran, and his mother, Doris Perry, was a registered nurse at the university’s infirmary.

After graduating high school, Perry formed Perry Roofing Contractors. In 2009, the company was awarded the Business of the Year Award for Commitment to the Environment by the Alachua County Chamber of Commerce.

Perry lists environmental policy as one of his priorities, alongside better education and health care, tax cuts and agriculture support. In October, he rallied against vaccine and mask mandates.

So far, he has raised over $202,000 for his 2022 campaign. In 2016, he narrowly defeated Democrat Rod Smith with 52.6% of the vote, and Democrat Kayser Enneking by less than 1% of the overall vote in 2018 in a controversial election tied to dark money.

His opponent, Rodney Long, D-Gainesville, is no political newcomer.

The former Alachua County and Gainesville commissioner began his civic career as co-owner of Music Express of Gainesville and W.O.N.E. Radio Station and member of advisory boards.

As executive secretary of the Alachua County NAACP in 1984, he petitioned the City of Gainesville to change from an at-large system of voting to a single member and at-large system of voting. The voters approved the change, and Long was the city's first single-member district commissioner, serving two terms from 1988 to 1994. In 2000, he served as commissioner for the county, becoming the first Black elected official to the board.

Long lists local home rule authority, affordable housing, Medicaid expansion and environmental protection as policy focal points.

In 2018, the city sued Long for three years worth of unpaid taxes. Two years later, he sought the state's House of Representatives District 20 seat but lost to Yvonne Hayes Hinson. So far, Long has raised about $25,000 in campaign funds.

State Representative, District 21

With redistricting, seat numbers have moved for both the Senate and House.

Incumbent Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, now represents District 21, a seat that covers most of eastern Alachua County.

Hinson was born and raised in Gainesville, and she graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education from the University of Florida. Hinson taught children with neurological and behavioral challenges in New York, Miami and Atlanta.

She also became a counselor and principal during her education career and formed Childstart Learning Solutions. The small business contracted with states and local school districts to provide services to low-performing schools. For three years, she served on the Gainesville City Commission until 2015, and she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2020.

Hinson says she is running for office again because she aims to make progress on issues related to education, criminal justice reform and rehabilitation, affordable housing and the environment. She has collected about $43,000 in campaign donations so far.

Political newcomer Hollye Merton hopes to unseat Hinson during the general election. The Gainesville Republican says she believes citizens’ rights are being stripped away, namely against the Second Amendment.

Merton was born in Fort Lauderdale and moved to Gainesville in 2003. She served as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy for 18 years and worked in technical service roles for Shands and the Alachua County Library District. She is now employed by GRU as a tech systems analyst.

Last year, Merton attended a GRU employee protest against mandated vaccines, telling The Sun that “the bottom line is it’s our bodies. It’s as simple as that.”

Campaign records show Merton, who filed in May, has not received any outside donations yet. She promises to advocate for parental rights and school safety without infringing on the Second Amendment.

State Representative, District 22

Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, is looking for another term in the office he has held since 2016.

Clemons' family settled in Alachua County in 1823, over a decade before Florida became a state. He was raised on a chicken farm in High Springs and is a fourth-generation Floridian. He was a first-generation college student and took on leadership roles such as president of his college fraternity at the University of Florida.

In 1996, Clemons served as an Alachua County commissioner until 2000, when he helped recruit the Dollar General Distribution Center to the City of Alachua. In 2001, then-President George Bush appointed Clemons as the state director of USDA Rural Development of Agriculture, which Clemons says is still a priority as he aims to protect and grow the industry.

As a member of the state House of Representatives, Clemons says he values rural communities. He sponsored a bill that would reorganize Alachua County elections to single-member districts, rather than at-large as it is now. The change would mean that voters within specific districts could only vote for the official that represents their region.

Clemons has raised about $170,000 for the 2022 campaign.

Local Republican Tayari Appiah hopes to give Clemons a run for his money during the primary race in August.

In February 2021, Appiah, of Bronson, sued the City of Gainesville after he missed the deadline to qualify to run for city commission. Circuit Judge Monica Brasington, however, denied his injunction. A year later, Appiah claims he is the only constitutional conservative on the ballot, he wrote on Facebook.

Appiah was born in Brooklyn, and when he was 16, he moved to Florida. Soon after, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and became a nurse. Appiah said he hopes to decrease government overreach, protect the Second Amendment and prevent racist education.

Appiah has collected over $9,500 in campaign contributions.

Olysha Magruder, D-Gainesville, is seeking unseat Clemons during the general election. The UF graduate has a doctorate in education and taught at Archer Elementary School before becoming director of learning design and faculty development at a preeminent academic institution.

Magruder vows to advocate for public school funding and competitive salaries for teachers. She said she opposes the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and aims to protect “the right of children to live their truth," if elected.

Magruder, who was wrapped up in a dark money scheme orchestrated by Republicans during her Senate District 8 race in 2018, says she would legislate to terminate political corruption if elected.

So far, she has raised about $37,000 in campaign donations.

Brandon Peters, a resident of unincorporated Levy County, will face off against Magruder in the primary.

He said he will prioritize the district and rural communities, such as by repairing Alachua County roads and the dilapidated Levy County 911 call dispatch center.

In his 30-year career as an attorney, Peters said he learned the importance of listening and compassion.

The Williston resident graduated from Princeton University and the University of Virginia Law School. He also taught law students at Florida A&M University. His campaign emphasizes advocating for “the common man and woman.” Peters also plans to promote expanding Bright Futures and limiting censorship of educators, protecting natural resources and expanding Medicaid.

Peters so far has collected $83,000, according to campaign finances.

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Key dates for the 2022 Primary Election

Voter registration deadline: July 25

Early voting: Aug. 13-20, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Mail ballot request deadline: Aug. 13, 5 p.m. (Must be received by Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted)

Election Day: Aug. 23, polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Key dates for the 2022 Primary Election

Voter registration deadline: July 25

Early voting: Aug. 13-20, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Mail ballot request deadline: Aug. 13, 5 p.m. (Must be received by Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted)

Election Day: Aug. 23, polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County's House, Senate candidates set for midterm election