The first quarter 2024 general election and municipal election campaign filings reveal races for Superintendent of Schools and District 5 county commissioner have raised significant campaign contributions so far.
The Superintendent of Schools race is by far the most expensive race in the 2024 cycle locally. According to campaign filings, Superintendent of Schools Kathy Burns has received $42,575 in contributions so far in 2024. Burns loaned her campaign $25,000 and reports $4,144.41 in expenditures.
The challenger for Superintendent of Schools, Curtis Gaus, reports $2,422.77 in contributions and $2,345.76 in expenditures.
Other contested school district races have seen much less activity. Gail Cook, current District 2 School Board member, has reported an in-kind contribution of $200 and challenger Yvon Joinville for the District 2 School Board seat has received $2,073.68 in campaign contributions plus a $200 in-kind contribution.
Incumbent District 4 School Board member Cynthia Grooms has reported $500 in contributions while challenger Kristi Simpkins has received $4,810 in contributions.
John Martin, District 1 county commissioner, has outraised his challenger, Casey Jones, collecting $26,820 in contributions for his re-election campaign. Jones has neither collected any funds nor spent any money on his campaign yet.
Jeff Gray, current District 3 county commissioner, has collected $18,100.04 in contributions, $171.20 in-kind contributions and reports $17 in expenditures for his re-election campaign, according to the campaign finance report for first quarter 2024.
The other challenger for the District 3 county commissioner seat, Lynn Newcomer, has yet to collect any funds or report any expenditures for her election campaign.
The second most expensive campaign race in local elections is for the District 5 county commissioner seat. According to campaign filings, Klynt Farmer, who currently holds the District 5 seat, has raised $32,420 in contributions, $198.30 in-kind contributions and reports $65.41 in expenditures. Farmer loaned his campaign $12,250.
The challenger for the District 5 county commissioner seat, John Ladson, reports $3,600 in contributions and $1,519.87 in expenditures.
Bill Leeper, who currently is the lone candidate for Nassau County Sheriff, has raised $2,100 in contributions and an in-kind donation of $50. He loaned his campaign $100 in January and has no expenditures, his filing shows.
Nassau County Tax Collector John Drew is running unopposed and filings show he has collected one in-kind donation in the amount of $30.
John Crawford withdrew from the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller race, leaving Mitchell Keiter and Allan Reynolds to challenge one another for the title. Both have neither reported campaign contributions nor expenditures.
In the race for Supervisor of Elections, incumbent Janet H. Adkins has collected $4,500 in monetary contributions so far, including a $1,000 loan from herself. Her campaign has also received an in-kind donation of $103 with no expenditures.
Stan Bethea, who is also running for Supervisor of Elections, shows $2,450 in contributions and expenditures of $2,345.
Kevin Lilly, who launched his campaign for Property Appraiser, loaned himself $15,000 of the $17,750 in contributions collected so far. Lilly also shows $307 worth of in-kind contributions and just $16.90 in expenditures on his campaign.
Danny Fullwood launched his campaign for District 1 Ocean, Highway and Port Authority member in the fourth quarter of 2023 and loaned $3,000 of the collected $3,100 to his campaign in 2024 with no expenditures.
Miriam Hill has outraised her challenger for District 1 OHPA member in the first quarter of 2024 by loaning her campaign $5,000.
Scott Moore, running for District 2 Ocean, Highway and Port Authority member, has loaned his campaign $5,660 and reports $1,500 in expenditures.
The other challenger for District 2 OHPA member, Jimmy Dubberly, launched his campaign in the fourth quarter of 2023 with no funds collected until he loaned his campaign $100 in the first quarter of 2024.
A third candidate for the District 2 OHPA member, Jean Marie Stanley, withdrew from the election.
Lone candidates Michael Kelly, Amelia Island Mosquito Control Member, Group 1, and Henry (Red) Jentz II, Amelia Walk Community Development District, Seat 3, have yet to collect any funds towards their campaigns or spend any money, their filings show.
CITY RACES
In races for the Fernandina Beach City Commission, mayoral candidate Darron Ayscue has collected $100 in monetary contributions.
James Antun, who is also running for mayor, has neither collected any funds toward his election nor spent any money on his campaign yet.
Bradley Bean, mayor of Fernandina Beach, running for commissioner Seat 1, shows $500 collected in monetary contributions with no expenditures.
Joyce Tuten, also running for commissioner Seat 1, has yet to collect any contributions to her campaign, according to the first quarter campaign finance report.
David Sturges, Seat 2 commissioner, has outraised his challenger, Genece Minshew, in the first quarter of 2024, collecting $10,500 in contributions, with $10,000 of the contributions coming as a loan from Sturges to his campaign in January. Expenditures to his campaign show $14.93.
Minshew has neither collected any funds towards her campaign nor spent any money on her campaign as of the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Three candidates are vying for commissioner Seat 3 on the Fernandina Beach City Commission, Christy LaByer Kelly, Tony Morris and Tim Poynter. Kelly hasn’t collected or spent any money on her campaign during the first quarter of the year.
Morris loaned his campaign $300.33 in cash. Poynter loaned his campaign $100 in March and received a $10 in-kind donation with no expenditures.
tdishman@fbnewsleader.com