With all 63 precincts reporting, preliminary vote totals show former Alachua Police Department chief Chad Scott defeating current Alachua County Sheriff Emery Gainey by just 395 votes, but a recount is likely. 

Incumbent 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brian Kramer, a Republican, kept his seat with 56.9% of the total vote in the six counties he represents. His opponent, Democrat Yvens Pierre-Antoine, lost the race by more than 27,000 votes but won Alachua County by a wide margin. 

Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton, a Democrat, kept the seat she has held for eight years, beating her Republican opponent Judith Jensen by over 32,000 votes. 

Jensen received 50,012 votes, winning 37.85% of the county, while Barton took the other 82,137, or 62.15% of votes. 

Alachua County Sheriff 

Both candidates in the Alachua County sheriff’s race said they expect a recount, as Scott’s 62,673 recorded votes beat Gainey’s 62,278 recorded votes by only 0.29%. 

“Anything that I’ve ever done in my entire life has never been easy. So why should this be?” Scott said in a victory speech on Tuesday. “I appreciate all the support, all the votes, all the love that people have given. I tell you, it’s just amazing. But if you look at the numbers, we won. That’s right, we won.” 

Scott said he has walked through each community and talked to citizens to find out their individual wants and needs, and said while his team has been genuine, his opponent’s team has been negative. 

Pamela Marshall-Koons, who ran for the sheriff’s office as an independent, garnered 8,497 votes, or 6.37% of the county’s recorded votes. Though a distant third, Marshall-Koons’ presence played a key role in the outcome of the race.  

Gainey said the close nature of the race would likely require a recount, but he hoped to have finalized results within a few days. 

“We got some great things accomplished at the sheriff’s office in the last year,” Gainey said in a speech to supporters. “We’ve turned some things around that were badly broken, as you well know, that’s out there. We’re in office until Jan. 4. Irregardless of the outcome, my promise when I went into office is that we will work very hard until the last day we’re in office. If that’s Jan. 4, if that’s Jan. 4 plus four years, whichever it may be, that’s my promise, and that will continue to be my promise.” 

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Gainey to the position in September of 2023, to finish Clovis Watson Jr.’s remaining term. He ran unopposed on the Republican ticket in the August primaries. During his time in office, he has emphasized rebuilding staffing levels at the sheriff’s office and opening several new precinct offices.  

Scott won the Democratic nomination for the sheriff’s race in August with 51.1% of the vote against opponents Latrell Simmons and Peter King. 

State Attorney 

Before he won, Kramer said he was grateful for the voters, though 56.24% of Alachua County broke for challenger Pierre-Antoine, but incumbent Kramer was carried to victory by votes from the other five counties he represents as state attorney. 

“I hope I do a good job for the people I represent,” Kramer said in an interview. 

Kramer won the votes of 113,619 people across Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties, with 57,573 of those votes coming from Alachua County. Pierre-Antoine won 86,064 votes across the six counties, with 73,981, almost 86% of his total votes, coming from Alachua County. 

“The turnout was tremendous in Alachua County, and unfortunately the other counties played a role in it as well,” Pierre-Antoine said. “We’re excited, we believe that we’re… going to continue fighting for the things that we talked about during the election, and the fight goes on.” 

Kramer said both he and Pierre-Antoine ran a good, clean race, and that he expected Alachua County’s strong Democratic base to take his challenger’s side. Kramer said his hope had been to “do fairly well” in Alachua County, and that he did better than most other Republican candidates who cover a portion of the county.

“Obviously I would love to have more support within the Democratic Party in Alachua County, but that is not the state of politics today, and I accept that as the nature of the world we live in,” Kramer said in a phone interview.”

Kramer said now that the election is over, he will be considering each county’s results, and talking with communities and law enforcement to determine how he can better serve their needs.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.