As Gainesville and Alachua County elections near, see who is running and how they stack up

Local races are heating up in Gainesville and Alachua County as more and more candidates file to run for office.

Republicans in Florida can vote in Tuesday's GOP primary, though former President Donald Trump seems to have already clinched the nomination. Florida Democrats will not get to cast a primary vote at all, as the state party decided it would only place one name — President Joe Biden — on the ballot.

Still, with many local seats up for grabs on Nov. 5, and an upcoming primary on Aug. 20, here’s a breakdown of the candidates in some of the most contentious races for the 2024 election.

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Alachua County sheriff

Incumbent Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in September after Democrat Clovis Watson Jr. resigned and pulled out of the race for reelection. Gainey faces six challengers so far, and has raised nearly $72,000 toward his campaign.

Leading the pack in terms of campaign contributions is Democrat Chad Scott, who oversees patrol at the sheriff's office, among other functions. He is a former police chief for the city of Alachua, a place he worked for 13 years. Watson and his former undersheriff, Joel DeCoursey, held the position prior to Scott.

Campaign finance data shows Scott has raised nearly $24,500 toward his campaign. Top contributions include $1,000 from Watson, $1,000 from DeCoursey, $1,000 from former Alachua City Manager Adam Boukari and $500 from Chris Sims, a former spokesperson for the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.

So far, Gainey will face off with just one challenger in the Republican primary, a Gainesville police officer named Justin Thomas.

Democratic candidates include Tyronne R. Johnson Jr., a felon with over a dozen criminal charges; Peter King, a current ACSO sergeant; and Latrell Simmons, a former high ranking official with ACSO during former Sheriff Sadie Darnell's tenure and is currently a captain with the University of Florida Police Department. There is one independent candidate in the race, Pamela Marshall-Koons, a local nonprofit owner.

Florida House and Senate

In what is shaping up to be a competitive race, four candidates have applied to run for Florida Rep. Chuck Clemons’ seat as he has reached term limits.

There are two Republicans in the race so far: Raemi Eagle-Glenn, a former Alachua County commissioner and local attorney, and Chad Johnson, a former Levy County commissioner who was appointed by former Gov. Charlie Christ.

Eagle-Glenn’s campaign contributions currently total over $71,000, and Johnson’s contributions sit at $61,000.

There are two Democrats running for the seat: Amy Jane Trask and David Arreola. Arreola was the youngest person to ever be elected to the Gainesville City Commission in 2017 and served two terms. He placed third in the last Gainesville mayoral race that was eventually won by Harvey Ward.

Arreola has raised $25,000 for his campaign. Notably, a member of the all-Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority board — James Coats — recently donated $500 to Arreola’s progressive campaign.

Trask’s finances are right below $2,000.

At this point there is no one running for Alachua County’s other two state representative seats currently belonging to Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson and Rep. Chuck Brannon other than the incumbents.

Sen. Keith Perry's District 9 seat in the state Senate is also up for grabs with the Gainesville Republican being term-limited in 2024. Republican Rep. Stan McClain, who represents District 27 in the House, has filed to run. He has raised nearly $90,000 for his campaign.

McClain faces one Democratic challenger, Sylvain Dore, a member of the University of Florida board of trustees who has no reported campaign contributions.

Alachua County Commission

A couple of sitting county commissioners have challengers to their seats already.

Mary Alford, commission chair and county commissioner for District 1, has filed for reelection.

The former environmental engineer resigned from the commission in May 2022 after The Sun reported she lived outside her district due to personal reasons. Afterward, she managed to find a new home and qualified for her former seat in time for the election. She won reelection by 16,000 votes over incumbent Raemi Eagle-Glenn, who was appointed by Gov. DeSantis to the vacated seat.

Now, Alford faces just one opponent: Dejeon Cain.

Cain is a Gainesville native and a graduate of Gainesville High School. He previously worked as a parking enforcement officer for the University of Florida but now owns and operates a local security company, Fortitude Security. Cain ran to join the Gainesville City Commission last year and lost to Casey Willits.

Alford has raised $7,000 compared to Cain’s $5,000.

District 3 Commissioner Anna Prizzia will await the winner of the Republican primary before finding out who her opponent will be. Brandon Kutner, a deputy sheriff at ACSO, and Jenn Garrett, a local artist and member of the Alachua County Public Schools District Advisory Council, will face each other in the Republican primary.

Prizzia has raised nearly $11,000, while Garrett’s contributions total $26,000 and Kutner’s sit at $3,000.

Charles “Chuck” Chestnut IV is running for reelection in District 5. He currently faces no challengers.

City of Gainesville Commission

Both At-large seats on the Gainesville City Commission are up for grabs.

Reina Saco, current seat-A commissioner, has not filed for reelection, and up to replace her is Fareed Michael Reshard Johnson, who was arrested for robbing a bank in 2013, and James Ingle.

Cynthia Chestnut, current seat-B commissioner, has filed for reelection and will face Ocie Alston in the election. Neither have reported any campaign contributions.

Supervisor of Elections

Current Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton has made a bid for reelection, raising over $2,700 for her campaign so far. She faces one challenger, Judith Jenson, who has raised $2,200.

Jenson is the secretary of the Alachua County Republican Party and was co-chair of the party’s Election Integrity Committee.

Alachua County School Board

School board chair Diyonne McGraw is running for reelection for her seat on the board representing District 2. Her opponent is Thomas Vu, a former math teacher and a district employee. Neither candidate has reported any campaign contributions.

Also running for reelection is District 4 board member Leanetta McNealy, who faces Lew Welge, an Abraham Lincoln impersonator and a retired Florida public school guidance counselor, according to his campaign website. Neither have reported any finances.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: A look at Gainesville and Alachua County candidates for office in 2024