And so it begins — election season, that is.
The nonprofit, voter-advocacy group Hometown! hosted its first Call for Candidates on March 8 in Key West. The event invites “anyone who has filed to run for office, and anyone just thinking about running for office” to introduce themselves and address the crowd for two minutes, said Hometown chairman Todd German.
German emphasized to the packed crowd the importance of voter education and involvement in the political process.
“This is as much a community event as a candidate event,” German told US 1 Radio just prior to the popular happy-hour gathering that takes place each election season at Salute on the Beach restaurant.
Several incumbents who are not yet facing any challengers spoke at the event, as did candidates — incumbents and newcomers — who are facing opposition in the races for state representative, county judge, school board and county commission.
At the state level, Democrats Adam Gentle and Daniel Horton-Diaz are challenging incumbent Republican Jim Mooney, who participated by phone in the Hometown event.
Key West attorneys Al Kelley and Jason Smith are running for county judge and two school board seats have drawn multiple candidates. In the Upper Keys, Alexandria Suarez is challenging incumbent Sue Woltanski. In Key West, incumbent Bobby Highsmith will not seek reelection. Darren Horan and Gabrielle Brown are running for that seat.
Political newcomer Mickey Jackson of Key West said Monday she is considering a run for mayor to combat the city’s housing crisis, but she had not filed paperwork as of March 8.
German also announced at the event that former Key West city manager Jim Scholl had filed earlier that day to run for the county commission District 3 seat that has been vacant since Eddie Martinez resigned in late 2021. The governor has yet to appoint a replacement to finish Martinez’s term, and Scholl is now officially campaigning for the seat that includes downtown Key West.
German introduced Chris Massicotte as a potential District 3 candidate, but Massicotte has not filed to run, and spoke Monday about an ongoing effort to change Monroe County’s voting laws. Currently, a county candidate must live in the district they wish to represent, but is elected by all county voters. Massicotte pointed out the difficulties of campaigning throughout the 120-mile island chain. He urged support for a system, such as that of Key West’s city commission elections, in which only the voters in a particular district elect their commission representative.
The contested races (those in which more than one candidate has filed paperwork with the county elections office) represented at Monday’s Hometown event included:
State Representative, District 120
Daniel Horton-Diaz
Adam Gentle
Jim Mooney (incumbent)
County Judge, Group 1
Al Kelley
Jason Smith
School Board, District 5
Alexandria Suarez
Sue Woltanski (incumbent)
School Board, District 1 (no incumbent)
Gabrielle Brown
Darren Horan
County Commission, District 5
Jose Peixoto
Holly Raschein (incumbent)
(Note: The candidates pictured have officially filed with the elections office and participated in Hometown’s March 7 Call for Candidates. The event also included several incumbent candidates who are thus far running unopposed. For all candidate photos, see keysweekly.com. For a complete list of races and candidates, visit keyselections.org.)
