- Marshall Rawson won the Republican nomination for Florida House District 10 with 54.74% of nearly 23,000 votes, defeating Chase Brannan by nearly 19 points.
- Rawson faced scrutiny over past ties to the League of the South but downplayed the connection and will face Democrat Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson in the Nov. 3 election.
Republican voters selected Marshall Rawson as the party’s nominee for Florida House District 10, with Rawson defeating Chase Brannan by nearly 19 percentage points in Tuesday’s primary.
The 34-year-old Rawson won 54.74% of the nearly 23,000 ballots cast over 45.26% for Brannan, son of the seat’s term-limited incumbent Rep. Chuck Brannan.
The district includes Baker, Bradford, Columbia and Union County, as well as the cities of Waldo, Alachua and High Springs in Alachua County. Of the 3,863 votes from Alachua County, 63.29% favored Rawson over 36.71% for Brannan.
Rawson is a Bradford County resident and graduated from UF’s Levin College of Law in 2022. He operates Free State Growers, a multi-county agricultural business, and has served as aide to former Republican U.S. Congressman Paul Broun and legal assistant to Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
Rawson’s win comes after facing last-minute scrutiny last week from the Democratic Executive Committees of Alachua and Baker counties. The groups criticized Rawson’s ties to a southern secessionist group called the League of the South, which the candidate downplayed.
Rawson, a self-proclaimed “fearless conservative,” told Mainstreet that his connection to the League of the South dates back over a decade. He said the Brannans were responsible for attempting to muddy his name.
Tyler Foerst, chair of the Alachua County Democratic Party, called the Rawson/Brannan race one of the most important races on the ballot during the party’s watch party at Heartwood Soundstage on Tuesday.
Foerst reiterated Rawson’s former membership in the League of the South, likening the League to the Ku Klux Klan. He said that, instead of denouncing the organization’s views, Rawson had stood by them.
“If this man gets elected, he will be one of the highest-ranking white supremacists in the United States, aside from the president,” Foerst said. “Look up Marshall Rawson and educate yourself and then get ready to get to work.”
Rawson will face Democratic candidate Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who ran unopposed for her nomination, for Florida House District 10 in the Nov. 3 election.
A complete questionnaire of Rawson’s plans for upcoming legislative decisions he’d face, including property tax reform, can be found here.
—with reporting from Seth Johnson.