Monroe County Mayor Michelle Lincoln will seek another term to serve the Florida Keys this fall.
A full-time resident of the Keys since 1999, Lincoln served on the Marathon City Council from 2015 to 2018 before her two terms on the Monroe County Commission as District 2 representative. Her district covers Boca Chica in the Lower Keys north through the Seven Mile Bridge and includes the north side of U.S. 1 up to the neighborhoods behind the Marathon Airport. At press time, she is the only declared candidate for the position.
“I still have a passion to serve my community, and the best way I know how to do that is by being an elected official,” she told the Weekly by phone on March 3. “Because I was once on the Marathon City Council, and because I’m so active in Rotary and the Chamber (of Commerce), I feel I’ve stayed in tune with what our community wants.”
In 2025, Lincoln was sworn in as president of the Florida Association of Counties. It’s a position she said has opened doors statewide to allow Keys voices to be heard.
“Now when I’m walking the halls in Tallahassee, I don’t just hear ‘commissioner,’ I hear ‘hey, president,’ and it’s a staffer from another county,” she said. “They vote on the things that are important to our county.”
She listed improvements to Big Pine Community Park, a rebuild in the works for the Sugarloaf Key fire station and the county’s successful launch of an artificial reefs program as hallmark achievements in her last term
“When I became a commissioner, it was right after Irma. Big Pine was really hit the hardest, and I’ve seen that community turn around,” she said. “On any given day you go to the beach, to the park there, and it’s packed with kids playing soccer and tee ball, adults playing bocce ball. There’s just so much going on, and I’m still wanting to make that a better place for our families.”
And while the county has made great strides in the fight against derelict vessels, she listed projects like an upcoming Boca Chica mooring field and returning commercial air service to the Marathon Airport as top items of unfinished business.
She told the Weekly she’s eager to deploy the rest of a $35 million tourist development tax surplus to support workforce housing builds for tourism-related employees throughout the island chain, but admitted the commission is “tapping the brakes” as its Southcliff Estates project in Key Largo faces ongoing vacancies and a strong resident pushback to initial rental rates.
“We’re going to stop, and do a study to make sure we’re providing the right product in each individual community,” she said.
The county commission has weathered several high-stakes challenges during Lincoln’s most recent term, from large-scale changes to Monroe County Fire Rescue and the Tourist Development Council, following a 2023 drug diversion scandal and several critical audits of county departments and oversight. In 2025, a 50% funding cut to nonprofits fueled by the county’s Human Services Advisory Board and elimination of roughly 20 staff positions kept meeting rooms full as the commission looked to comply with directives from the Florida Department of Government Efficiency.
“When the government above you is telling you what you need to do, then you have to,” she said, reiterating the need for the county to build its own disaster reserve fund in the face of large-scale FEMA overhauls. The county’s current budget will add $2 million to those reserves this year.
“We’ve been really blessed not needing to use those funds, but we know it’s just a matter of time,” Lincoln said. “We could have cut the entire $4 million out of the budget (for nonprofits), but we cut it by 50%,” she said. “We’re looking at ways, if we can’t give funding from our ad valorem taxes, can we maybe get more grant money, or are there other ways to make sure the community is receiving services they need?”
Locally, Lincoln volunteers with the Guardian ad Litem program, representing the interests of abused children during legal proceedings. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Marathon, Marathon Chamber of Commerce and Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, and serves as a Take Stock in Children mentor.
The qualifying period for the 2026 county commission election runs from Monday, June 8 to Friday, June 12. Lincoln joins current Mayor Pro Tem David Rice as the only prefiled candidates, with Rice set to run for re-election in Marathon and Islamorada’s District 4.
