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Letter to the editor

Deadlines loom for candidates, voters

By AMY WIMMER SCHWARB
Published July 6, 2004

Overwhelmed by how many candidates are running for the District 4 seat on the School Board? Wondering whether Jimmy Carr, Democratic candidate for County Commission, District 1, is related to Charles Carr, Republican candidate for County Commission, District 5? Been asked one too many times to sign candidates' voter petition cards to get them on the ballot?

This year's local election could get messier, or it could get easier, depending on what happens next week.

Qualifying week is Monday through July 16. Anyone interested in becoming eligible for a ballot spot by gathering voters' signatures on petition cards was required to turn in the cards last month. Those who did not must pay a filing fee.

With as many as seven candidates vying for a single office, the ballot stands to be crowded in Citrus this year.

Primary and nonpartisan elections will take place Aug. 31. To cast a ballot in that election, voters must register by Aug. 2.

The general election, as well as runoffs from the nonpartisan races, will take place Nov. 2. To vote in that election, voters must register by Oct. 4.

The lineup for the elections looks like this:

School Board candidates will appear on the ballot Aug. 31 because the races are nonpartisan. A candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote to win the seat, so if the race includes more than two candidates and no one wins enough votes, the top two vote-getters will face off in the general election on Nov. 2.

Local partisan races will have primaries Aug. 31 to select each party's candidates for the general election. Those races include County Commission Districts 1, 3 and 5. No one has announced plans to run against Commissioner Vicki Phillips, a Republican, for her District 3 seat, so that race will not have a Republican or Democratic primary unless someone qualifies next week.

Also, if some of the candidates who announced they would run for Districts 1 and 5 fail to qualify, some primaries could be eliminated if they do not have at least two people from the same party running.

So far, races for constitutional officers - sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, clerk of the court and supervisor of elections - do not have more than one candidate from the same party, so unless someone qualifies next week, those races will not have a primary.

The same is true for the schools superintendent race. While School Board races are nonpartisan, candidates for superintendent run in party races. So far that race has attracted one Democrat, one Republican and one unaffiliated candidate, so if the status stays the same after qualifying week, there will be no primary.

Other races decided Aug. 31 will be county judge and circuit judges. One of the two circuit judge races has three candidates; if no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote on Aug. 31, the top two vote-getters will face off Nov. 2.

The races for public defender and state attorney are partisan races, and so far only the incumbents have filed to run.

The two Carr candidates, incidentally, are not related.

- Amy Wimmer Schwarb can be reached at 860-7305 or at wimmer@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 5, 2004, 18:59:04]