The Republican Primary for House District 10 garnered input from the Democratic Executive Committees of Alachua and Baker counties after a report from Florida Politics tied candidate Marshall Rawson to a southern secessionist group called the League of the South.
Rawson is running against Chase Brannan, the son of incumbent state Rep. Chuck Brannan, for the seat that covers northern Alachua County along with all of Baker, Bradford, Columbia and Union counties. Both participated in a Mainstreet questionnaire earlier in the campaign.
The race has included a host of campaign flyers sent back and forth. One calls Chase Brannan a bad apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree; another targets Rawson for being more pro-immigration than former President Barack Obama, while another links him to the Libertarian Party and says he “backed sex changes for kids—no age limits, no parents’ permission.”
The story in Florida Politics, reiterated in a statement from the Democratic Executive Committees, said Rawson “spent years appearing at events and promoting messages associated with a White nationalist, Southern secessionist organization classified by multiple anti-bigotry watchdogs as a hate group.”
In an interview, Rawson told Mainstreet that he was involved with the League of the South for a few years over a decade ago. He said the involvement was to protest Sharia law, to demonstrate against the ‘Gang of Eight’ and Obama’s “amnesty policies,” to defend traditional marriage while groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center were trying to overturn marriage laws in Southern states, and to defend Southern heritage—particularly “veterans’ monuments against attacks by the radical left and weak, spineless, fickle Republicans.”
Rawson maintains that his connection to the League of the South isn’t really a news story and said the Brannans are behind it.
“I’ve been pretty upfront about my advocacy all along and defending whether it’s our Southern heritage or defending against Sharia law,” Rawson said. “This has only become a news story when the Brannans have paid Florida Politics to write this article and started colluding with Democrats.”
Rawson said the efforts show that the Brannans want to confuse voters and “steal the election at all costs.”
Chase Brannan told Mainstreet that he had no part in the story published by Florida Politics. He said Rawson needs to take accountability and explain his background and what’s he’s stood for in the past decade.
“That’s just a desperate statement from my opponent to say that and not take accountability for his actions,” Brannan said.
He said voters should look at the candidates’ records and base their decisions on the work and commitment that they’ve shown.
“My focus has always remained on serving House District 10 with integrity, respect, and a commitment to uniting our communities and building a stronger, safer, and more prosperous future, in which every voice can be heard. I’m a uniter and not a divider,” Brannan said.
In a May 2025 Facebook post just months after starting his campaign, Rawson acknowledged his past with the League of the South. He stated the same four reasons for advocating with the group and also predicted people would try to wield it against him.
“Ironically, the ‘white supremacist’ rhetoric being used is even more vicious than the language from the defunct Antifa blog that the radical downtown Gainesville crowd and the spineless establishment ‘Republicans’ are using in their collaboration against our campaign,” Rawson said.
The League of the South was classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2000, and the Anti-Defamation League called it a white supremacist organization in 2018. Rawson said local Democrats were parroting the same lines about the League from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which he called a “disgraced law firm” pointing to recent Department of Justice charges filed against the center for allegedly defrauding donors and paying Ku Klux Klan informants.
The League was one of the groups involved in the 2017 deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Associated Press reported.
The Florida Politics story mentioned a 2021 conference held in Lake City that Rawson spoke at, noting that the local Republican Party had publicly repudiated the conference.
Rawson said he was leading a Republican Liberty Caucus chapter at the time and was asked to speak. He said he spoke on the errors of communism and did not know what issues the Columbia County Republican Party had with the conference at the time. Now, though, he has a great relationship with the chapter, he said.
Rawson was endorsed by at least 14 Alachua County leaders. The Democratic Executive Committees called each out and said their constituents deserve an answer to “how does an elected official endorse a man with this record and still claim to represent their whole community?”
Tyler Foerst, chair of the Alachua County Democratic Executive Committee, said elected officials who endorsed Rawson swore an oath to their whole community.
“They owe their community an answer: do they stand behind Marshall Rawson’s extremist and divisive views, or will they serve everyone they represent, regardless of race, party, or religion?” Foerst said.
The letter said voters deserve an answer before they can trust those officials again.
Newberry Mayor Tim Marden endorsed Rawson and said he still does. He said campaigns dig up dirt but thinks most people are “almost inoculated about these typical character assassination hit pieces around election times.”
“I’ve known Marshall personally for years, so I know where his heart is and where his intentions are,” Marden said. “I don’t personally even know anything about the League of the South, so it’s immaterial for me.”
High Springs Commissioners Katherine Weitz, who also endorsed Rawson, said she has no knowledge about the League of the South and did not have a comment.
Marden, who also leads the Alachua County Republican Party, said Chase Brannan hasn’t been involved with the local chapter and that he has no relationship with him or his father. He said that’s not an issue, but it means he can’t endorse the campaign.
Marden said attack mailers against Rawson seems to be a sign of concern from the Brannan campaign.
“I know his defense or their campaign’s defense is going to be, ‘oh well, that was the [political action campaign], that wasn’t really me, but that’s all gamesmanship,” Marden said. “These things are very coordinated behind the scenes. I have no doubt.”
Brannan said he was disappointed by Marden’s endorsement of Rawson despite “his numerous issues” rather than stay neutral in the primary.
Chase Brannan addressed mailers on Facebook earlier this week.
“If a mailer says it was paid for by the Chase Brannan Campaign or Friends of Brannan, it is ours, and I’ll take responsibility for it,” Brannan said. “If it was paid for by another political committee or organization, it is not our mailer. My campaign does not control their money, messaging, or decisions. The same standard should apply across the board. My opponent has sent negative mail into this district, and those pieces also carry who paid for them on the address. See below some examples of what the other campaign has done. That is why the disclaimer matters.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include comments from Chase Brannan.