BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
One more hat in the ring for superintendent this week, meaning the incumbent will need to defeat two candidates to keep his job.
Alan Bhajan is a science teacher at Bradford Middle School, and he is running against Will Hartley — or potentially Hartley’s other challenger — to be the next superintendent of schools.
In the partisan contest, Bhajan is running with no party affiliation. That means Hartley and Tracey Kendrick, a local who principal of a Duval County elementary school, will face each other as Republicans in the August primary. The winner of the primary will run against Bhajan to Election Day in November.
It is the only such race on the Bradford ballot right now. There is a partisan race for the District 1 county commission seat held by incumbent Carolyn Spooner, a Democrat. She is being challenged by her former colleague on the city commission, Shannon Smith, who is running as a Republican.
There is also a three-way nonpartisan race for the District 4 school board seat between incumbent Candace Osteen and challengers Dana Bell and Mitchell Gunter.
Julie Johnson is still the only candidate seeking to replace Cheryl Canova on the school board in District 3. Canova is retiring from office.
Smith is also retiring from the city commission to run for the county position. His seat in Starke’s District 3 will be filled during a special election coinciding with the August primary. Former Sheriff Bob Milner, also a former city commissioner and city manager, has said he would run for the position.
County commissioners Chris Dougherty and Diane Andrews are unopposed in county District 3 and 5. All the constitutional officers are unopposed as well, including Sheriff Gordon Smith, Clerk of Court Denny Thompson, Property Appraiser Kenny Clark, Tax Collector Teresa Phillips and Supervisor of Elections Amanda Seyfang.
Qualifying week is June 10-14. Candidates may submit announcements of their intention to run for office to the Telegraph along with a photograph through Monday, June 17, by emailing [email protected]. There is a $50 charge, and no exceptions will be made to the deadline. Payment must be made prior to publication.
