BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
LAKE BUTLER — Beginning next year, Bradford and Union counties will no longer be represented by Bobby Payne in the Florida House of Representatives.
Under a redistricting plan passed by the legislature earlier this year, the two counties will move from Payne’s current District 19 to District 10, which also includes Baker and Columbia counties, plus northern Alachua County with the cities of Waldo, Alachua and High Springs in the district.
While gaining Bradford and Union counties, District 10 will lose Hamilton and Suwannee counties to House District 7, which covers the bottom three-fourths of the panhandle between the Suwannee and Apalachicola rivers.
What is now District 19, which includes southern Clay County and all of Putnam County will become District 20 and will also include southwestern St. Johns County and northeast Marion County.
The incumbent for District 10 is Robert Charles “Chuck” Brannon III, a retired Baker County Sheriff’s Office investigator and former Deputy U.S. Marshal. The Macclenny resident is also a cattleman and residential rental property owner.
While both Payne and Brannon face reelection this year, incumbent House members are rarely defeated by challengers. So far, no one has filed to challenge either House member.
For potential candidates, one impact of the redistricting is that Payne terms out in 2024, but Brannon terms out two years later.
House members are limited to eight consecutive years.
Potential House candidates usually wait until an incumbent terms out to run for a House seat to avoid running against an office holder.
That means that potential candidates living in Bradford or Union counties will have to wait two additional years before running for the House, if they want to avoid running against an incumbent.
The new Florida Senate map keeps Union and Bradford in a district with Clay, Baker, Columbia and Gilchrist counties. Now designated District 6 instead of the current District 5, Senator Jennifer Bradley’s district loses Suwannee, Lafayette, Dixie and Levy counties, in addition to a section of southwestern Marion County.
The district adds the northern half of Alachua County and does not include the City of Gainesville.
At press time, new districts for the U.S. House are still undecided with Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoing a map passed by the legislature.
Although the governor must sign off on U.S. House maps, his approval is not required for Florida Senate and House districts.
