Sheriff Al Nienhuis, Tax Collector Sally Daniel, Brooksville City Councilman William Kemerer and Clerk of Circuit Court Don Barbee can all breathe a sigh of relief as the candidate filing deadline, June 24 has come and gone. No challengers emerged in the last minute to face off with these incumbents, so they are automatically re-elected.
Candidate races are fairly fluid until the candidate filing deadline, after which no others can enter the race. On a state and local level, several races have seen some changes in the days leading up to the deadline.
The County Commission District 5 race has had some changes. Frankie Burnett, current Brooksville City Councilman and former mayor, withdrew from this race and is now running to keep seat 2 on the City Council, against Joe Bernardini, a former councilman and mayor of Brooksville. (Darren McKethan failed to qualify for the Brooksville City Council seat 2 race. )
Paul Douglas filed last minute to run in the County Commission District 5 race on June 21. The County Commission District 5 field is as follows: Steve Champion R, Dave Russell R, and Paul Douglas D.
Willis Reese has withdrawn from the School Board, Dist 2 race leaving candidates Linda Prescott, Mario F. Littman and Steven Van Gorden. Reese accepted a teaching position in Pinellas county.
Candidates have recently filed for the Community Development District races. Alice J. Charoonsak is unopposed for CDD, SPRING RIDGE SEAT 3. Guillermo ‘Bill’ Velez is also unopposed for CDD, SPRING RIDGE SEAT 4.
Residents within the Sterling Hill Community Development District will be deciding on either Michael Dimos, Jr. or Frances Krause for CDD, Sterling Hill, Seat 4.
On a state level, the big news last week was Marco Rubio’s decision to get in the Senate race to keep his current position. Because he had previously stated that he would not run for Senate, the Republican field vying for the seat was pretty crowded. The race included David Jolly, Ron DeSantis, Carlos Beruff, Todd Wilcox and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Carlos Beruff is the only Republican remaining in the race to challenge incumbent Marco Rubio.
State Representative for District 35 Blaise Ingoglia and head of the Florida Republican Party is not being challenged on the Republican side, but will face Democrat Ramon J. Gutierrez of Brooksville in the November 8th election.
Wilton Simpson faced no opposition for the State Senate District 10 seat. Currently Simpson represents what is called District 18 as boundaries have been redrawn. Hernando County sits entirely within the current district 18 and the new district 10.
Races that remain unchanged:
County Commission District 1: Michael LaRocca, Joseph Swilley, Jimmy Lodato and Nick Nicholson.
County Commssion District 3: John Alloco R challenging incumbent Diane Rowden (D).
School Board District 4: Michael Angelo Gordan, Gus Guadagnino, William James Vonada
County Judge: Donald M. “Sonny” McKathran Jr. and Kristie Ruppe; Election on August 30th, 2016
Supervisor of Elections: Shirley Anderson (Incumbent) and Debra Myers
Property Appraiser: John Emerson and Jeff Huffman