'So contentious': Candidates gearing up for 2024 election battle as races begin to take shape

The 2024 local races are starting to shape up, with more than two dozen candidates filing to run — and others reportedly waiting in the wings to announce or otherwise weighing their chances.

So far, there’s competition in only a handful of the city, county, school board, judicial and constitutional races that will appear on the ballot. And while there are whispers of prospective candidates testing the waters, it’s unclear how many may end up filing.

Political observers say a number of would-be candidates are still in soul-searching mode, wary of the scorched-earth tactics — from personal attacks to anonymous smear campaigns — that marked some of the races in 2022.

“Right now, you’re seeing some races that are not as crowded as maybe would have been anticipated,” said Jamie Van Pelt, CEO of The Radley Firm, which does marketing and public relations. “I think it’s a product of the political temperature. In all my years ... I haven’t seen it so contentious and so negative and personal as it is right now.”

Gary Yordon, a veteran media consultant and talk show host, said he’s spoken with roughly a dozen people who were considering running for office but were hesitant given the ugliness of the 2022 election.

“One common discussion that I’ve had with all of them is the tenor of local campaigns,” Yordon said. “They watched ... and just said I have no reason to put my happy life on that chopping block. It’s just the guardrails are off and accuracy is meaningless.”

The fireworks haven’t begun yet this cycle, though the candidates are preparing for the possibility as they fill their campaign coffers with donations.

Leon County Commissioner Brian Welch, a high school history teacher running for a second term, has raised over $114,000 — considerably more money than any of the other candidates.

County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings, also running for a second term, took in the second-highest amount, just over $71,000. Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna had the third-highest amount at just over $70,000.

Superintendent race heats up as a third candidate files to challenge Rocky Hanna

Hanna, who’s running for a third and self-imposed “final” term, is facing a challenge from Chiles High School Principal Joe Burgess, a veteran district administrator, and Genleah Star Swain, elementary principal at FAMU DRS who filed to run on Tuesday.

Burgess and Hanna have long been at odds. In 2021, Hanna suspended Burgess for violating district policy by paying teachers for extra work without documentation. Burgess denied wrongdoing and fought the disciplinary action but ended up serving a two-week suspension last fall after his final appeal failed.

The incumbent has had his own on-the-job battles, namely with Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Florida Department of Education investigated Hanna last year for making “politically charged statements” and infusing “personal views” into his administration. He settled with DOE and received a reprimand.

Hanna, a Democrat, has raised just over $70,000, more than three times the amount brought in by Burgess, who’s running with no party affiliation. Last week, Sean Pittman, a prominent lawyer and political consultant, and his spouse, Audra Pittman, hosted a fundraiser for Hanna at their home.

In a Facebook post, Hanna said the event, which he called a “friendraiser,” exceeded his fundraising and individual donor goals. The amount won’t be reported until the spring.

Burgess has been holding his own events and posting videos on Facebook he calls “Rebuilding Bridges with Joe Burgess.” He spoke out about the need for teachers to get a salary increase before the district and the teachers union struck a deal earlier this month.

The race took a turn this week as Swain made her candidacy official. Swain, a Democrat, became an internet and media sensation in 2016 after video of her singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” went viral. If all three candidates qualify, Hanna and Swain would square off in the primary, with the winner facing Burgess in the general election.

Incumbent city commissioners lead in fundraising, face multiple challengers

Incumbent City Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Jack Porter have each drawn opponents in contests sure to be marked by longstanding divisions over growth, City Hall management and other issues.

Richardson, a former School Board member and lawmaker and a member of the commission’s voting majority, along with Mayor John Dailey and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, is seeking his third full term.

He’s drawn two opponents for Seat 2, former City Commissioner Dot Inman-Johnson, a retired teacher and the first Black woman to serve on the commission, and Bernard Stevens Jr., a vocal critic of city officials and frequent speaker at commission meetings.

Richardson has raised nearly $60,000 in campaign donations, including at least $12,500 from three dozen lawyers, among them State Attorney Jack Campbell and former City Commissioner Mark Mustian. He also got six $1,000 checks from NAI TALCOR and related firms and a $1,000 donation from Ajax Construction, which is building TPD’s new headquarters. Commissioner Williams-Cox gave $50.

Inman-Johnson has raised nearly $28,000. Her donors include City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who gave $1,000, and former City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey, former County Commissioners Bob Rackleff and Cliff Thaell and former Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho, who all gave $250 or less.

Porter, who makes up the commission’s progressive wing along with Matlow, is running for a second term. She faces three challengers so far: Rudy Ferguson, a pastor who ran for a County Commission seat in 2022, Louis Dilbert, director of Veteran Affairs at Florida A&M University, and Anthony DeMarco, an IT worker who ran unsuccesfuly for a School Board seat in 2022.

On the fundraising trail, Porter leads with nearly $52,000. She has a whopping 489 donations — though many of her donors gave multiple times — and collected dozens of $27 checks, a symbolic figure popularized by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Her donors include Matlow, who gave $1,000, County Commissioner David O’Keefe, who gave $250 Lightsey, Rackleff and Thaell.

Dilbert has raised over $17,000, though most of his donations, roughly 75%, came from out of town. Ferguson has raised a little over $11,000, including two checks totaling $150 from Williams-Cox.

County Commissioner Welch, a Democrat, amasses war chest for battle in conservative District 4

County Commissioner Brian Welch is squaring off against a political newcomer, Isaac Montilla, a chiropractor and owner of Verity Health Center, in a nonpartisan race that’s being watched closely by the local Democratic and Republican parties.

Welch, a Democrat, and Montilla, a Republican, are competing for the seat in District 4, situated in the northeast and the only district in Leon County where GOP voters outnumber Democrats.

In 2020, Welch, running in part on a promise to deliver a new northeast park, knocked off long-serving Commissioner Bryan Desloge, a Republican. Last year, the Blueprint board approved the park, though a scaled-back version with a $12 million budget.

And while Welch is leading in fundraising, Montilla has raised a substantial sum himself — more than $65,000, the fourth-highest amount of all the local candidates. Montilla posed for a Facebook photo with Desloge in October, a month after he filed. Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, endorsed him the same day.

“That seat is a seat that is a majority Republican,” said Evan Power, chairman of both the Leon County and Florida Republican parties. “So it’s important for our Republican friends to vote for an actual conservative candidate. So we’ll be out informing people that one person is a progressive and one’s a conservative.”

Ryan Ray, chair of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee, said it was “unprecedented” for a sitting state senator to endorse someone running against a “common sense candidate.”

“Despite far right machinations, on the MAGA fringes, Democrats will continue to keep Commissioner Brian Welch’s strong leadership at the helm in county District 4,” Ray said.

Four running for open county judge seat; Sheriff Walt McNeil silent on re-election plans

Four people have filed to run for a Leon County judge seat that opened up with the retirement of Judge Augustus Aikens Jr., who steps down early next year because of age limits. Running for the Seat 4 judge are Cydnee Brown, Robert Churchill, Melinda Coonrod and LaShawn Riggans.

Three of the five constitutional officers, Tax Collector Doris Maloy, Clerk of Court Gwen Marshall-Knight and Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley, are running unopposed so far. Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi, who’s running for a third term, has one challenger, Kenneth “Ken” Preston, a former employee of the office.

Sheriff Walt McNeil has yet to file for re-election, though it would be a shock if he didn’t. When asked last month whether he’s running for a third, he declined to say. No one else has filed to run for the post.

“The deadline is in June,” McNeil said in an email. “Right now my priority is focused on fighting crime and other safety initiatives in Leon County.

Numerous other incumbents have yet to draw a challenger, including State Reps. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) and Allison Tant and Gallop Franklin (both D-Tallahassee), State Attorney Jack Campbell, Public Defender Jessica Yeary, County Judge Monique Richardson, County Commissioner Christian Caban, School Board member Laurie Lawson Cox and Circuit Judges Barbara Hobbs, Ronald Flury, Frank Allman, Robert Wheeler and David Frank.

See how much the candidates have raised and spent

Below is a list of the candidates and their fundraising totals through Dec. 31, the end of the most recent reporting period.

State Senate District 3

• Sheria Monique Griffin (Democrat). Raised: $11.073. Spent: $3,818.

• Kimblin Eugene Nesmith (Democrat). Raised: $20,000. Spent: $17,203.

• Corey Simon (incumbent, Republican). Raised: $302,689. Spent: $36,115.

State House District 7

• Jason Shoaf (incumbent, Republican). Raised: $88,340. Spent: $51,546.

State House District 8

• Gallop Franklin (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: $68,480. Spent: $13,291.

State House District 9

• Allison Tant (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: $236,393. Spent: $3,789.

State attorney, 2nd Judicial Circuit

• Jack Campbell (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: None. Spent: None.

Public defender, 2nd Judicial Circuit

• Jessica Yeary (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: $48,400. Spent: $2,979.

Circuit judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Group 2

• Barbara Hobbs (incumbent). Raised: $23,795. Spent: $7,802.

Circuit judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Group 3

• Ronald Flury (incumbent). Raised: None. Spent: None.

Circuit judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Group 5

• Frank Allman (incumbent). Raised: $22,125. Spent: $2,008.

Circuit judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Group 7

• Robert Wheeler (incumbent). Raised: $21,225. Spent: $2,382.

Circuit judge, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Group 12

• David Frank (incumbent). Raised: $69,500. Spent: $5,093.

Leon County clerk of court

• Gwen Marshall (incumbent). Raised: $3,500. Spent: $10.

Leon County property appraiser

• Akin Akinyemi (incumbent). Raised: $33,370. Spent: $4,084.

• Kenneth "Ken" Preston. Raised: $25,270. Spent: $25,111.

Leon County tax collector

• Doris Maloy (incumbent). Raised: None. Spent: None.

Leon County Superintendent of Schools

• Joseph Lamar Burgess (no party affiliation). Raised: $18,105. Spent: $228.

• Rocky Hanna (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: $70,185. Spent: $4,169.

• Genleah Star Swain (Democrat). Raised: None. Spent: None.

Leon County supervisor of elections

• Mark Earley (incumbent, Democrat). Raised: $1,050. Spent: $195.

Leon County judge Seat 3

• Monique Richardson (incumbent). Raised: $7,750. Spent: None.

Leon County judge Seat 4

• Cydnee Brown. Raised: $15,200. Spent: $1,640.

• Robert Churchill. Raised: $11,900. Spent: $1,037.

• Melinda Coonrod. Raised: $2,850. Spent: $1,712.

• LaShawn Riggans. Raised: $25,525. Spent: $714.

Leon County Commission at-large

• Carolyn Cummings (incumbent). Raised: $71,245. Spent: $15,678.

• David Hawkins. Raised: $5,000. Spent: None.

Leon County Commission District 2

• Christian Caban (incumbent). Raised: None. Spent: None.

Leon County Commission District 4

• Isaac Montilla. Raised: $65,589. Spent: $15,491.

• Brian Welch (incumbent). Raised: $114,110. Spent: $11,616.

Leon County School Board District 2

• Rosanne Wood (incumbent). Raised: None. Spent: None.

• Daniel Zeruto. Raised: $500. Spent: None.

Leon County School Board District 4

• Laurie Lawson Cox (incumbent). Raised: $25,075. Spent: $6,864.

Tallahassee City Commission Seat 1

• Anthony DeMarco. Raised: None. Spent: None.

• Louis Dilbert. Raised: $17,420. Spent: $14,840.

• Rudy Ferguson Sr. Raised: $11,122. Spent: $4,998.

• Jack Porter (incumbent). Raised: $51,973. Spent: $6,935.

Tallahassee City Commission Seat 2

• Dorothy Inman-Johnson. Raised: $27,826. Spent: $10,995.

• Curtis Richardson (incumbent). Raised: $59,535. Spent: $2,790.

• Bernard Stevens Jr. Raised: $250. Spent: $214.

Also on the ballot in 2024 are contests for U.S. president and Senate and House seats. Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Neal Dunn are both seeking re-election. At least 10 people are running against Scott, including former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat who announced last year. Dunn has not drawn a challenger.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee, Leon election battle lines form; candidates in money race