A voter’s guide to Fall Student Government elections
By Alissa Gary | Sep. 20, 2022Fall elections will take place Sept. 27 and 28. Students vote for their senators based on living areas.
Fall elections will take place Sept. 27 and 28. Students vote for their senators based on living areas.
Brandon Peters defeated Olysha Magruder in the race for Florida’s 22nd State House District. Peters won by a narrow margin, receiving 550 more votes than Magruder. In Nov. Peters will face off against Republican candidate Chuck Clemons.
Ed Book and James Ingle from District 2, as well as Dejeon Cain and Casey Willits from District 3, will face off in a runoff election Nov. 8. Bryan Eastman won the District 4 race.
Kat Cammack and Danielle Hawk were declared the winners of their Florida’s 3rd Congressional District primaries, as reported by the Associated Press at 7:22 p.m and 8:39 p.m. respectively.
Nine mayoral candidates — including David Arreola, Ed Bielarski, Ansaun Fisher, Gary Gordon, Adam Rosenthal, Donald Shepherd, July Thomas and Harvey Ward — are on the ballot in the upcoming primary election. On the campaign trail, they’ve focused on issues such as affordable housing, Gainesville Regional Utilities rates and climate change.
The League of Women Voters hosted the exclusive forum to allow about 80 retirement community residents to hear mayoral, city commission and school board candidates speak on topics from climate change to single-family zoning.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Raemi Eagle-Glenn Thursday to fill the District 1 seat, which she lost by about 62% to former commissioner Mary Alford in 2020.
UF Senate swore in its batch of 50 newly elected senators and chose a new Senate president and president pro-tempore at the meeting. It was in the process of electing the members-at-large when the meeting was cut short, as the Reitz Union building closes at 11 p.m. The election results bring few changes to the chamber. Gator Party remained the supermajority while Change party remained the minority party. Gator Party’s candidates also won the election for Student Body president, vice president and treasurer, who will take office in April.
By 10 p.m., Gator Party seized the Executive Branch and grasped the majority of Senate seats for the third consecutive year. More than 9,000 students cast their ballots by Wednesday, a 37% increase from last Spring’s 6,650 total ballots.
In the days following the election, commissioner-elect Cynthia Moore Chestnut prepared for her position as city commissioner at-large seat B. Opposing candidate Matt Howland will be returning to his studies, flying between Gainesville and his classes at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
The Gainesville City Commission Special Election early voting began Friday and ended Sunday, with the official election date being Jan. 25. For voters casting their vote by mail past the early voting period, the mail-in drop box will be available Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 at the Alachua Supervisor of Elections Office at 515 N. Main St. Suite 100.
After a Fall semester that saw graduate seat vacancies and an unusually low number of bills on the Senate floor, SG officers are preparing for the Spring semester.
Gainesville is holding its City Commission election for the mayor at-large seat and districts two, three and four on Aug. 23, 2022.
Early voting for the special election begins Nov. 12 and ends Nov. 14, and registered Gainesville residents can vote at the Alachua Supervisor of Elections Office or the Millhopper Branch Library from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The UF College Democrats and the Gator chapter of NAACP hosted an in-person 2021 special election debate Tuesday night, allowing students to ask the candidates questions about traffic safety, food accessibility, affordable housing and sustainable energy.
Nicolle Shalley, who held the position before Nee, resigned Sept. 8 and her last day will be Nov. 12, according to her letter of resignation. She will become Levy County’s attorney, she wrote. Shalley was the fourth city official to resign in the past four months.
Johnson publicly announced her endorsement of Chestnut, a 72-year-old longtime Gainesville politician, outside of a City Commission meeting Monday About 30 of Chestnut’s supporters gathered on the steps of Gainesville City Hall for the announcement.
In a case brought to the Supreme Court Sept. 9, Communist Party president Alfredo Ortiz brought his concern to the judges that the current design of the ballot is misleading and should be altered.
City attorney Nicolle Shalley and city clerk Omichele Gainey submitted written letters of resignation Wednesday. Shalley’s last day will be Nov. 12, and Gainey’s will be Oct. 8. In an email to the City Commission, Shalley wrote she will become Levy County’s attorney, but Gainey did not explain why she was resigning.
The election will take place Nov. 16. Early voting will be open from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 at the Supervisor of Elections’ office and Millhopper Branch Library from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.