Alachua County Commissioner District 1
Mary Alford vs. Raemi Eagle-Glenn
Mary Alford took in around 58% of the vote, reclaiming the seat for commissioner of District 1, according to the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
Alford, 61, resigned in May after an investigation from The Gainesville Sun found she was living in a district she wasn’t representing, an act in violation of state law. After closing on a home in her original district, Alford filed to run for office a month later. In her stead, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Raemi Eagle-Glenn, 42, the same person Alford beat in the 2020 election prior to her resignation, to fill her seat.
Eagle-Glenn worked as an attorney in Gainesville before being appointed to her seat and had railed against COVID-19 lockdowns as well as mandatory mask and vaccine mandates.
Alford’s campaign brought in over $22,000, spending around $20,000 of it. By comparison, Eagle-Glenn’s campaign collected more than $17,000 and spent nearly $8,000 of its funds.
Alachua County Commissioner District 2
Marihelen Wheeler vs. Ed Braddy
Garnering about 58% of the vote, Marihelen Wheeler will win and continue to occupy the District 2 commission seat, according to the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
Similar to Alford, Wheeler, 71, was embroiled in a legal challenge prior to the election over concerns she wasn’t residing in her district. The lawsuit was thrown out earlier this month after the presiding judge determined there was a “lack of subject matter,” court documents show.
Ed Braddy, 50, the current chair of the Alachua County Republican Party and testing coordinator at Santa Fe College, was likewise enveloped in controversy during his time in office as Gainesville’s mayor. In 2015, the former president of a police union in Gainesville was caught stealing tens of thousands of dollars in union funds, some of which was used to pay for Braddy’s hotel rooms and an outing at a strip club in Daytona Beach. Braddy denied the allegations but reported the incident to the Florida Commission on Ethics, paying back the money spent.
He was unseated from his mayoral position by Lauren Poe in 2016.
Wheeler’s campaign contributions totaled over $23,000, with her expenditures coming out at $1,000 more than what she brought in. Braddy’s campaign collected over $36,000 and spent a little above $32,000.
Alachua County Commissioner District 4
Ken Cornell vs. Van Elmore vs. Anthony Johnson
The three-way race ended with Ken Cornell gaining around 58% of the vote, holding on to the seat for commissioner of District 4, according to the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
Van Elmore, Cornell’s Republican challenger and former EMS lieutenant for Alachua County Fire Rescue, took in a little over $9,000 in campaign contributions and spent about $30 more than what was donated to him. Elmore took in around 39% of the vote.
Anthony Johnson, who ran as an independent in the race, is a retired engineer and software developer who campaigned on aiding technological and housing problems in Alachua County as well as lowering taxes. Johnson collected $5,670 in contributions to his campaign, spending all but $500 of it. Johnson received about 3% of the vote.
Cornell raised and outspent his opponents by sizable margins, with his campaign taking in nearly $85,000 in contributions and spending over $60,000 of it. Cornell has served as a county commissioner for seven years, having run unopposed in his last election.
Single-Member Districts
By a slim margin, Alachua County residents voted yes to a referendum that would see the county broken up into single-member districts, with about 51% voting in favor of it. This move would make it so a voter would only be able to cast their vote for the commissioner of the district they live in. County commissioners are currently voted in by at-large elections.
Wild Spaces Public Places
With around 52% of voters in favor, Alachua County residents narrowly approved a ballot initiative that would add a 1% sales surtax for 10 years effective Jan. 1, 2023. The funds from the surtax would be used for, among other things, wildlife conservation, infrastructure repair and economic development.