The crowd at Woodyard Grill in Newberry erupted into small bursts of whoops, applause and laughter as the votes began pouring in Tuesday night. They were gathered for a watch party in support of Chad Scott, a candidate in the primary election for Alachua County’s sheriff.
Scott was one of three candidates in the Democratic Party running for the position. He emerged the victor, advancing to the General Election in November.
Scott won Tuesday’s primary with 51% of the vote, beating Latrell Simmons with 29% and Peter King with 20%.
Before Scott arrived at the watch party, his campaign manager Katy Burnett sat in the corner of the restaurant awaiting results of the election.
A smattering of Chad’s friends and colleagues were present when votes finally started to pour in at 7 p.m. Burnett grinned as she said Scott was in the lead.
At 7:10 p.m., Scott arrived to cheers as he was informed he was ahead in the race. Scott embraced a friend before speaking to some of the people in the room.
One of Scott’s colleagues, David Floyd, 52, was in attendance. Floyd is a sergeant with Alachua Police Department.
Floyd said he had never held a sign for any political candidate until Tuesday, when he stood in support of Scott.
At 8:30 p.m., votes from Alachua County precincts started appearing publicly on the Supervisor of Elections’ website. The remaining attendees let out cheers as the result became clear: Scott had won the primary, firmly leading the other two candidates.
Scott said the next step for his candidacy against incumbent Sheriff Emery Gainey was working hard and knocking on doors.
Scott has undergone several demotions and promotions throughout his decades-long career at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO). Scott was fired in September 2007 by former Sheriff Sadie Darnell over an alleged failure to properly supervise his subordinates or be honest. Scott unsuccessfully sued for his job back in 2008.
Scott rejoined the ACSO in February 2022. He resigned the next year as a colonel to run for sheriff’s office against the incumbent sheriff, Emery Gainey.
In August 2023, Scott’s son, Chad Scott Jr., died from an illegal methamphetamine overdose. The dealer who is accused of selling the drugs to allegedly gave Scott Jr. is scheduled to face trial in December, according to court records.
As of June 2024, Scott rejoined Alachua Police Department as a captain.
Scott said the three most pressing issues in county law enforcement are staffing, the mental health crisis and community gun violence. His proposed solutions to these issues were prioritizing the retention of graduates from the police academy, increasing mental healthcare professionals to respond to mental health crises and working with Alachua County’s youth to combat gun violence.
Since June 2023, Scott has raised over $47,000 and spent nearly $45,000 for his campaign.
Latrell Simmons, one of Scott’s opponents in the election, said he was disappointed by the results. However, he said he respected the electoral process and planned to continue serving in law enforcement. Scott will face Gainey to decide who will be the next sheriff on Nov. 5. Gainey did not face a primary candidate.