In a universal primary, Tina Certain won the Alachua County Commission Seat 2 race with just under 39% of the vote, securing a spot on the Board of County Commissioners this fall.
Certain, Donna Bradbrook, Charlie Jackson and Byran Williams each filed to run for the open seat that sitting Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler is vacating.
Because the four candidates are each members of the Democratic Party, the Primary Election was open to all county voters and earning the most votes was enough for Certain to win.
Behind Certain came Bradbrook with 31% of the vote, Jackson with 18% and Williams with 12%.
The race was one of the most competitive for North Central Florida, besides another universal primary for Florida House District 21 which featured five candidates.
The candidates included a sitting school board member, a former High Springs mayor, a current county employee and a former county employee.
Certain currently sits on the School Board of Alachua County, and making the switch to a county seat involved campaigning to the same voters because of the county’s at-large districts.
Her top issues were “smart growth, responsible budgeting, and real investment in children, families, and neighborhoods.”
The current BOCC has stayed largely the same for the past five years—minus a stint when former Commissioner Raemi Eagle-Glenn was appointed to the board following Commissioner Mary Alford’s resignation.
Wheeler will only serve a single term and stepped down from the canvassing board for this election in order to endorse Bradbrook.