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Democratic candidate Anna Prizzia has secured a second term on the Alachua County Commission, District 3, after running once again on issues related to environmental protection, social justice and local business development. A few of her specific goals include implementing water quality protection policies, affordable housing and workforce training programs.
Democratic incumbent Kim Barton retained her seat as Alachua County Supervisor of Elections in a landslide victory against Republican challenger Judith Jensen Tuesday evening. She won by more than 32,000 votes.
Aside from electing local and national representatives, Alachua County voters also decided on several local ballot referendums and amendments. They’re amendments to city and county rules, known as charters.
Republican candidate Stan McClain won the Florida State Senate District 9 seat after earning a majority in Levy County and his home county, Marion.District 9, newly drawn in 2022, includes all of Levy and Marion and part of Alachua. Although Democratic candidate Sylvain Doré won the majority of votes in Alachua, the margin was not enough to make up for his loss elsewhere.Doré’s campaign manager said they had no statement to make until every vote was counted when The Alligator called them Tuesday night. The New York Times called the race in McClain’s favor after he received a 63% majority with 91% of votes counted at about 9:30 p.m.McClain has spent the past eight years as a Florida House Representative for District 27, which encompasses parts of Lake County, Marion County and Volusia County. The 63-year-old residential contractor lives in Summerfield, an unincorporated area south of Ocala. Prior to his time in the House, he served as a Marion County Commissioner beginning in 2004.During his time in the House, he championed conservative legislation such as the bill allowing chaplains, or members of the clergy, to volunteer in Florida schools, which he co-sponsored in the 2024 session.McClain also co-sponsored the Florida bill banning abortions after 15 weeks and then voted to pass the subsequent six-week abortion ban in 2023.McClain did not respond to a questionnaire from The Alligator about legislative priorities. Issues listed on his campaign website include limiting federal overreach, broadening education choice through voucher and charter schools and protecting faith and family by building a culture that “respects life and honors values like traditional marriage.”Sylvain Doré, a former UF neuroscience professor who has lived in Gainesville for 13 years, ran against McClain. This marked Doré’s first venture into public elections after he served as UF Faculty Senate President and as a member of the Board of Trustees. Doré told The Alligator in a questionnaire he decided to run after his experience as a doctor and educator showed him the “heartbreaking” issues, such as high cost of living and lack of protection for reproductive rights, preventing Floridians from achieving their dreams.“The current Republican supermajority seems to be ignoring these needs and makes no effort to reach out and listen to what we really want,” he wrote. Doré’s loss came at the end of a financially outstrapped campaign. McClain’s expenditures totalled about $145,000, a sum over two times larger than Doré’s $54,000, according to the Division of Elections campaign finance database. McClain’s donations, about 40% of which came from political action committees, also far exceeded Doré’s. Just 23% of the total amount donated to his campaign came from within District 9. By comparison, Doré received no donations from PACs and 84% of his donations came from within his district.McClain received more donations from Tallahassee than from any other city. His largest political action committee contributors were Duke Energy and Florida’s Electric Cooperatives, both of which donated $2,000.This election marked the second-ever for the District 9 seat since legislators redrew Senate boundaries in 2022. Formerly, Gainesville was part of District 8, which included counties Alachua and Putman, as well as part of Marion. District 9 now spans three counties in North Central Florida. It includes all of Levy and Marion and the southern part of Alachua.The district division line splits Gainesville itself. Most of the city south of University Avenue falls in District 9, except a small triangle south of University containing the UF main campus. The northern part of the city, including the university, falls in District 6.Republican Keith Perry served three terms as senator for the former District 8. In 2022, he was elected to serve as senator of the newly drawn District 9. After representing Alachua County for eight years, he did not run for reelection this cycle due to term limits.In 2022, the first election held for the seat after District 9 was redrawn to its current form, Keith Perry defeated Democratic candidate Rodney Long after securing 65.5% of the slightly over 200,000 total votes cast.Without an incumbent, the race began wide open before narrowing to Doré and McClain, both of whom won their primary elections unopposed.Contact Zoey Thomas at zthomas@alligator.org. Follow her on X @zoeythomas39
With cheers echoing the walls of the Stonehouse Neighborhood Grill in Newberry, Florida, Chad Johnson celebrated his Florida House Seat District 22 win with his closest friends, family and campaign workers.
When the vote count rolled in, it revealed that incumbent U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) successfully defended her seat by approximately 60% against Democratic opponent Tom Wells.
As of Tuesday at 7 p.m., over 30,679 Alachua County residents have voted on Election Day. Overall, the county has seen about 84% voter turnout with early voting and mail-in ballots included, or 137,739 ballots cast, according to the county’s turnout tracker.
Coming off of a roller-coaster of a 2023-24 campaign and a busy offseason that saw all kinds of new talent landing in Gainesville, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team knew the stakes were higher than ever in their regular season opener on Monday night.
Dressed in their Sunday best and ‘Black Voters Matter’ T-shirts, more than 500 citizens of Gainesville’s Black community joined together in music and educational celebration to incentivize others to perform their civic duty — voting.
A symposium in support of Palestinian causes was moved off campus one day before it was scheduled to take place.
Unhoused individuals often struggle with the hardships and stigma associated with homelessness, but stereotypes and unhoused status don’t mean they can’t exercise the right to vote. Yet many of them are still choosing not to.
When Florida redshirt freshman quarterback Aidan Warner announced he was transferring from Yale to UF in Spring 2024, he wasn’t greeted with words of encouragement from his peers.
Twenty-year-old Allison Wilcox said she has a dirty secret. While she’s never worn a MAGA hat or waved a Trump flag, she’d love to see the former president return to the White House.
A medida que el sol desaparecía el 1 de noviembre, la comunidad de Gainesville cobró vida con los coloridos sonidos y vistas de El Día de Los Muertos. Esta festividad mexicana tradicional, observada el 1 y 2 de noviembre, honra a los seres queridos fallecidos a través de altares vibrantes, ofrendas y otras celebraciones culturales.
As the sun disappeared on Nov. 1, Gainesville’s community came alive with the colorful sights and sounds of El Día de Los Muertos. The traditional Mexican holiday, observed on Nov. 1 and 2, honors deceased loved ones through vibrant altars, offerings and other cultural celebrations.
Being a con man in 1912 River City, Iowa isn’t the easiest job, especially when it comes to singing and dancing to convince citizens to give you their money. Throwing in plaid, warm wool suits? Forget about it.
Florida Gators setter Taylor Parks (20) looks up in preparation to set the ball vs the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, Sept 29, 2024.
Justin Ramer was arrested Friday on charges of strangling two women who both identified as his girlfriends as part of a “throuple,” or a polyamorous relationship.
It’s 10 a.m., and the remnants of summer mingle with the wisps of fall. Clad in a magenta T-shirt, beaded heart earrings and Skechers sandals, Candi Morris waits at the door of Elder Options of Alachua County in southwest Gainesville. It’s her first cold call of the day.
When Thomas Vu first stepped into a classroom, he felt more at home than he’d ever been.
Solutions by The State News
