Candidates for Alachua County commission set as 8 hopefuls vie for 3 seats

It's election season and Alachua County's races for county commission will soon begin to heat up.

Over the past two weeks, multiple candidates filed to run for office in hopes of unseating incumbents. One race, however, is to fill a void left by Mary Alford who resigned after it was discovered she didn't live in her district. Alford has since refiled for her seat but will face off against a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee who seeks to retain the chair.

The primary election will be held on Aug. 23 where Democrats and Republicans will face off against their respected party challengers. Florida has closed primary elections, meaning only voters belonging to a party may vote for candidates belonging to those parties, as well as nonpartisan seats. The winning candidates from each party will then face off against one another for the general election on Nov. 8.

Here are your candidates for county commission:

Resigning: Alachua County Commissioner Mary Alford plans to resign after district residency questioned

Running again: Ex-U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown running for Congress again, now in Central Florida

Appointed by the gov: DeSantis appoints Gainesville attorney Raemi Eagle-Glenn to Alachua County commission

District 1

Arguably the most controversial seat up for grabs this election will be the county's District 1 seat, which was vacated last month by Alford. The district includes much of southwest Alachua County and Micanopy.

Mary Alford was first elected to office in 2020 after spending years on several advisory boards, including Gainesville's Utility Advisory Board. She is an engineer who has focused on environmental and infrastructure issues while serving on the commission.

She resigned after The Sun reported that she didn't live in her district, despite filing information with the Supervisor of Elections office that she did. Alford, a Democrat, has since found a new home within the district and says she's ready to get back to work.

Her opponent is a familiar foe, Gainesville Attorney Raemi Eagle-Glenn.

Eagle-Glenn was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 9 and will hold the seat at least until after the upcoming election. The two candidates previously faced off in the 2020 general election, where Alford received nearly 63% of the vote.

Eagle-Glenn, who also serves as a committeewoman for the Alachua County Republican Party has been critical of the county commission's policies, taking aim at the county manager, spokesman and elected leaders for their COVID-19 policies.

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District 2

After appearing to run unopposed, incumbent Merihelen Wheeler saw two challengers pop up in the past week for District 2, which covers much of the northwestern portion of the county.

Wheeler, who was first elected in 2018, is a former school teacher with more than three decades of experience. She has been praised for her continued work on environmental issues throughout the county and state, well before her time in office.

In May, much like Alford, the Sun reported that Wheeler may not live in her district, as required by law. But co-owning and staying at a home with her son within the district may provide legal cover.

Her opponents are well-known public figures.

Ed Braddy, a former mayor of Gainesville and current chairman of the Alachua County Republican Party, threw his hat into the ring this week. Braddy served as the Gainesville's mayor from 2013 to 2016 before being unseated by Lauren Poe during a controversial election.

Braddy left office while being entangled in an investigation involving a former city police union president, who was sentenced to three years for stealing about $56,000 of union funds. Some of those funds were spent on Braddy for hotel rooms and a strip club visit, though the former mayor denied any wrongdoing or knowing the money was stolen. Braddy paid back the money and self-reported the incident to Florida Commission on Ethics, which found probable cause that the former mayor accepted prohibited gifts.

Before that, Braddy served two full terms as a city commissioner. He has worked as an assessment coordinator at Santa Fe College. He said he is running to improve the county's infrastructure, including roads, lower taxes and to ensure people's rights aren't trampled on. He said he wants to break the one-party rule in Alachua County.

Charlie Jackson, a Democrat, will face off against Wheeler in the primary race. Jackson worked for the county for 20 years, lastly serving as its facilities director. He was terminated in February for his questionable hiring practices.

Afterward, he sent off an email stating that he was unjustly fired and experienced harassment, unfair treatment and discrimination during his tenure, and claimed the commission was given false renovation estimates for projects by staff.

District 4

Commissioner Ken Cornell is seeking a third term in office for District 4, which covers the eastern and southeastern portion of Alachua County.

Cornell, who works as a senior vice president for Bosshardt Realty, was born and raised in Gainesville. During his time in office, he has helped increase funding for public safety, and focused on environmental issues, roads and other core services, including reducing the millage rate each year while in office. Cornell also serves on the Children's Trust of Alachua County.

James "Van" Elmore, a Republican, is one of two candidates planning to take on Cornell, who previously ran unopposed in 2018. Elmore is a retired EMS lieutenant for Alachua County Fire Rescue, where he worked for 31 years.

Elmore grew up in Hawthorne and said he has seen too much growth in west Alachua County. He said he will focus will largely involve bringing more jobs to the east of Waldo Road in Gainesville to restore the balance.

Anthony Johnson, who filed under no party affiliation, also will compete for the seat. Johnson is a retired field engineer and software developer. He is the co-owner of Azure Services LLC, a local electronic interchange company. He said he would like to bring the county up-to-speed on technological issues, which he says will save money. He is also a landlord and says he understands housing issues facing the county.

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 commission candidates set for primary, general election