County candidates announcing runs
BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Starke’s city election will coincide with the county election this year, pending final reading of an ordinance this month aligning those dates.
The first reading of the ordinance took place in February. The move will allow Bradford Supervisor of Elections Amanda Seyfang to oversee the election of the city alongside the general election.
The Starke election would take place Tuesday, Aug. 23, at the same time as the state and county primary election. In the event of a runoff, Starke’s runoff election would be on state and county Election Day, Nov. 8.
Qualifying week for state, county and city offices would be June 13–17. Early voting dates would be Aug. 8–21 for the primary and Oct. 24–Nov. 6 for Election Day. Voter registration books close on July 25 for the primary and Oct. 11 for the general election.
Up for election in Starke are commission seats 1, 3 and 5, currently held by commissioners Danny Nugent, Shannon Smith and Wilbur Waters. There may also be some charter language amendments on the ballot, although they have not been discussed in great specificity at this time.
The county election includes county commission Seats 2 and 4, held by commissioners Kenny Thompson and Danny Riddick, and school board seats 1, 2 and 5, held by school board members Sheila Cummings, Gayle Nicula and Erica Reddish.
County Judge Tatum Davis’ bench is also up for election.
Who is running?
Judge Davis and other incumbents have already turned in paperwork to run for reelection, including school board members Nicula and Reddish.
Reddish has competition in the nonpartisan race from challenger Lynn Melvin, who has announced her run in District 5.
Only challengers have announced so far in the county commission election. Mark Williams of Starke is running for the commission seat in District 2 as a Republican, while District 4 currently has a three-way Republican race between Tom Germano and Christiann Hudson of Keystone Heights, and Michael Monaghan of Hampton.
Redistricting
The commission intends to complete redistricting to better balance the district populations prior to the election. This first redistricting since the 1980s will also preserve District 2 as a minority majority district. A legal description is being drafted to reflect the map changes. Following the commission’s upcoming vote on that, the map must be court approved before the commission finalizes the new district lines.
The county commission has postponed final action on redistricting until 2024, although work will continue in the meantime on redrawing the district lines that apply to county and school board elections.
Elections handbook released
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE — The Bradford County Supervisor of Elections Office has released its 2022 Candidate Handbook.
Supervisor of Elections Amanda Seyfang said the handbook covers most of the questions candidates ask like what forms must be filed to become a candidate and how to qualify by the petition method.
“Election laws are always changing,” Seyfang said in a telephone interview. “I would not fault a candidate for being behind on the current laws.”
Seyfang added that one ordinance unique to Bradford County has to do with campaign signs. The county prohibits the posting of campaign signs on public right-of-way sooner than 60 days before each election. That date for the 2022 primary is June 24.
The supervisor said the most common mistakes candidates make are filing treasurer’s reports late and making errors on or omitting the required disclaimer on advertisements.
She added that public office seekers should also be aware of the rules surrounding political contributions and expenditures, and the prohibition on solicitation during early voting.
Seyfang said her office’s website includes a section for candidate information which features instructions on how to become a candidate.
She also said the best way to learn about the rules and the processes of local elections is to make an appointment with her office by calling 904-966-6266.
