Local elections in Escambia County and Pensacola are starting to take shape with 13 local candidates meeting the deadline to qualify for the ballot through voter petitions.
The other 16 active candidates, as well as anyone else who files to run for office, will have to pay the full qualifying fee by the June 12 deadline. Voters themselves have until July 20 to register to vote in the Aug. 18 election if they’re not already registered.
Each office carries a different number of petition signatures that must be verified by the Escambia County Supervisors of Elections Office as a registered voter who is eligible to vote in that candidate’s race.
While petitions aren’t required to appear on the ballot, they waive the qualifying fee for county candidates and cut city candidates’ fee by 75%. For some offices, the number of required petitions is as few as 25 to several hundred. The Pensacola mayor’s race has the highest at 2,018 valid signatures. Meeting that hurdle can be a sign of support and an organized early campaign.
Notably, this year, some incumbents did not make the petition deadline, including Mayor D.C. Reeves, City Councilwoman Allison Patton and School Board members Kevin Adams and Paul Fetsko.
At the federal and state level, only two Escambia-area candidates submitted enough petitions to waive their qualifying fee, according to the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office: Democrat Gay Valimont, who is running for the First Congressional District, and Republican Michelle Salzman, who is running for reelection to the Florida House of Representatives District 1.
Escambia, Pensacola candidates who qualified by petition
Here are the local candidates who turned in enough petitions by the May 11 deadline, according to the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office:
Escambia County Commission District 2
370 valid petitions required
Escambia County Commission District 4
452 valid petitions required
Pensacola Mayor
Nonpartisan race with 2,018 valid petitions required
Pensacola City Council District 2
Non-partisan race with 255 valid petitions required
Pensacola City Council District 4
Non-partisan race with 300 valid petitions required
Escambia County School Board District 1
Non-partisan race with 486 valid petitions required
Escambia County School Board District 3
Non-partisan race with 394 valid petitions required
Santa Rosa Island Authority
Non-partisan race with 25 valid petitions required
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia, Pensacola races take shape as 13 candidates qualify by petition
Reporting by Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
