Latest news with #NathanBoyles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Early voting underway in District 3 state House special election
Early voting has gotten underway and the countdown to the June 10 general election to fill the District 3 state House seat vacated last year by Navarre physician Joel Rudman has begun. Voters were given the green light to cast ballots on Saturday and vote early in both Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day through June 7. Holt resident and former Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles, running as the GOP candidate in an overwhelmingly Republican district that encompasses most of Santa Rosa County and a large section of rural Okaloosa County, is a heavy favorite to win the seat. Boyles said that in a special election, held as the Summer season heats up, turnout will be crucial to helping guarantee his success. "We're excited and hoping one more time to earn the support of the folks in District 3," he said. "We're just asking folks to turn out one more time and go vote." Boyles is opposed by Dondre Wise, a Democrat who moved from Escambia County to Navarre a month ago and hopes to pull off a monumental upset. "I know it's an uphill battle, but it's a closer race than people think," he said. In early April Boyles defeated Jay Mayor Shon Owens and a field of six others to secure the GOP nomination. With voter turn out at about 28% in both counties Boyles secured 8,232 total votes to 7,765 for Owens. Wise did not field competition on the Democratic side of the ticket. District 3 is comprised of all of Santa Rosa County except the southwestern tip that includes the city of Gulf Breeze, the Midway communities and Navarre Beach. State Rep. Alex Andrade represents that portion of the county. Rudman announced in November of 2024 that he was resigning his state House seat to which he had just been elected for a second term. He stepped down to run for the congressional seat left vacant by the departure of Matt Gaetz. Gaetz had resigned to pursue an appointment to the United States Attorney General's job, a position President Donald Trump had nominated him to fill. His nomination was later withdrawn. Jimmy Patronis, who was serving as Florida's Chief Financial Officer when Gaetz's first congressional district seat came open, won the special election to replace the outgoing U.S. House member. Boyles, whose company, Adams Sanitation, serves as the garbage service provider for thousands in Santa Rosa County and employs 75 county residents, campaigned on the message that even as a resident of Okaloosa County he would be better positioned than anyone in the District 3 race to serve as the representative. "Santa Rosa County's success is very important to me. Just as important as Okaloosa County is to me," he said. Wise said whether he wins or loses June 10, he's happy he has made the move to Santa Rosa County and he believes he's opened some eyes to the message he jumped into the statehouse race to communicate. "I most wanted to make people aware of the election process and advocate for voter registration. I want real change and I believe this community does too," he said. "Regardless of the election outcome, I think people are starting to understand." The winner of the special election general election will not be afforded the opportunity to participate in the 2025 legislative session, which was extended into the week of June 2 to resolve disputes between the House, Senate and Governor's Office and pass a balanced budget. Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until Jan. 21 to schedule special elections to replace Rudman and outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine. At that time he issued executive orders setting special primary elections on April 1 and special general elections for June 10. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: District 3 Florida race: Nathan Boyles and Dondre Wise face off
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Here's what you missed: Patronis wins Gaetz' seat, hurricane season predictions
Here's a roundup of our top stories from the past week. With a subscription to the Pensacola News Journal, you will receive full access to the work done by our journalists and photographers as they head out every day to help inform and explain the important issues affecting your community. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis will be Northwest Florida's next Congress representative. Patronis garnered 56.91% of the vote (97,335 votes) in Tuesday's special election to fill the seat left vacant with the resignation of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gay Valimont had 72,304 votes, 42.28%. Non-party affiliated candidate Stephen Broden took just under 1% of the total with 1,382 votes. Read the full story: Jimmy Patronis wins election to Congress in Florida's 1st Congressional District Holt resident and three-term Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles beat Jay Mayor Shon Owens and a field of six other Republicans to secure the GOP nomination for the District 3 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Owens finished 949 votes behind to finish second. The big difference lay in the number of voters each of the front runners were able to pull in from the other's home county. Boyles secured 1,399 votes more in Okaloosa County than the Jay mayor, unofficial results indicated. Owens beat Boyles in Santa Rosa County by only 441 votes. Read the full story: Nathan Boyles wins Florida House District 3 primary AccuWeather is the latest forecaster to toss its hat in the ring of 2025 hurricane season predictions, and it says it could be a bumpy one. Other earlier hurricane season predictions gave indications that the 2025 season could be near-normal in terms of the frequency of storms, but AccuWeather's forecast underlines the trends in recent years: The threat isn't necessarily about the number of potential hurricanes but the intensity. AccuWeather predicts that the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will see between 13 to 18 named storms, but seven to 10 of those will strengthen into hurricanes. Of those, three to five could intensify into major hurricanes. Hurricane season predictions: Why AccuWeather says 2025 Atlantic hurricane season could be 'volatile' Crafting a nearly perfect New York-style pizza is a worthy legacy to leave behind. Restaurateur Jacob Calloway doesn't get intimidated by the long list of legendary pizza shops out there – he honors them with a photo hung in the dining room of his new Pensacola pizzeria, Lou's Pizza. Joe's Pizza, a New York City staple since 1975, earned a place on his wall neighbored by Ray's Pizza, which first opened in New York City's Little Italy in 1959. 'Hopefully, mine can be in the conversation one day,' Calloway said. Keep reading: This former New Yorker spent years perfecting his pizza. Now he's bringing it to Pensacola Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves is naming retired Rear Admiral Lance Scott to be the city's next port director. The city has been searching for a new port director since January, when Port Director Clark Merritt resigned. Scott retired from the Navy after a 31-year career, where he was commander of the Navy's Patrol and Reconnaissance Group. Before that, he was the global operations center chief for the U.S. Transportation Command. Scott was commissioned in the Navy after graduating in 1991 from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and became a Naval Flight Officer. Reeves announced his selection of Scott on Tuesday, and the Pensacola City Council must confirm his selection. Continue reading: Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves taps retired Rear Admiral Lance Scott as new port director This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola top news: Patronis wins D1, hurricane season predictions
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Santa Rosa leaders say it's vital county resident serves state House District 3
With an April 1 Republican Primary fast approaching that will almost surely determine who the next District 3 state House representative will be, the race, at least among perceived frontrunners, has developed something of an "us versus them" sort of vibe. Shon Owens, the mayor of the town of Jay, is the clear choice of the powers that be within Santa Rosa County. He's received endorsements from three of the five county commissioners (the other two are canvassing board members), the county school superintendent, a former sheriff and former Congressman Jeff Miller. Owens has received $51,025 through 68 individual contributions to his political campaign thus far, with 48 of those donations having come from Santa Rosa County residents and just four from Okaloosa County donors. Meet the candidates: Here's everything you need to know about candidates running for Florida's District 3 Seat Nathan Boyles, a three-term Okaloosa County commissioner and resident, has picked up endorsements from that county's five sitting commissioners and received campaign contributions from Okaloosa's sheriff, at least one former county commissioner, elected and appointed officials from other Panhandle counties and a host of residents and businesses. Boyles has received 115 individual campaign contributions to date and raised $82,095. Of those contributions, 65 have come from Okaloosa County sources and just four from Santa Rosa. Notably, Boyles, who has been painted by competitors as the "establishment" candidate, has received several large donations from Tallahassee-based political action groups. The two candidates, each of whom views the other as their only true competition in the eight-person Republican field, lend little credence to the fact their running money is coming from the people they are most familiar with in the place they call home. That's to be expected, they said. Boyles also scoffs at the establishment candidate label. "I don't really know what it means to be an establishment candidate," he said. "But if it means I'm showing up every day for work and other elected officials have taken note of that, so be it." But in Santa Rosa County in particular, there is an undeniable sentiment that District 3 should be rightfully represented in Tallahassee by a Santa Rosa County resident. The district is composed of all of Santa Rosa County except the southwestern tip, represented by Pensacola resident Alex Andrade, which includes the city of Gulf Breeze, the Pace and Midway communities and Navarre Beach. District 3 extends enough into North Okaloosa to encompass rural areas north of the county seat of Crestview. The number of registered Republican voters in District 3 in Santa Rosa County outnumber those in Okaloosa County 73,497 to 14,814. "That seat is geographically a Santa Rosa County seat and nobody knows our concerns and needs as much as someone who lives in our county," said Commissioner Colten Wright. "If someone like Nathan Boyles gets elected Santa Rosa will be left with no state representation from our county. Senator (Don) Gaetz lives to the east, and Rep. (Alex) Andrade lives to the west. I absolutely believe that has an impact." Boyles, whose home address is in Holt, is not the only one in the eight-person GOP field who resides in Okaloosa County. Joshua Sik, an assistant state attorney, lists his home address as Baker, as does Wade Merritt, a small business owner. Rena McQuaig, a nurse and Okaloosa County Republican leader, who has yet to raise any money in the race, resides in Fort Walton Beach, well outside District 3. Hayden Hudson, also an assistant state attorney, is a Santa Rosa County resident who grew up in Navarre and now lives in Pace. Cindy Smith, who has law enforcement and health care experience, also resides in Pace. Santa Rosa County has been without a resident member of the Florida Legislature effectively since late November of last year when Dr. Joel Rudman, who lives in Navarre, announced he was resigning his state House seat to run for the congressional seat left vacant by the departure of Matt Gaetz, Don Gaetz's son. Milton residents learned the hard way this legislative session what it means not to have a resident member of the Florida Legislature. Three appropriation bills they had relied upon state Rep. Patt Maney, an Okaloosa resident, to carry on their behalf were withheld from consideration at the last moment without warning. Milton city leaders were notified on March 6, the day before bills would have to be filed for legislative consideration this session, that both Maney, R-Shalimar, and Gaetz, R-Niceville, had decided not to complete final filing paperwork. Andrade had been ruled out of seeking bill consideration because he had served as Milton's city attorney, a role that ended by mutual agreement in December after several tumultuous months. Maney provided no real reason for withholding the bills, but did say he had been directed not to file them. He would later hint that political turmoil within the city had played a role. "I can't carry all of Rudman's load too. That's not my district," Maney told the News Journal. "I'm not willing to get all involved in their fights over there." Wright was filmed, along with fellow Santa Rosa commissioners Kerry Smith and Rhett Rowell, in a video that ran on Owens' Facebook page. The commissioners highlighted Owens achievements as a mayor and county leader but also emphasized his Santa Rosa citizenship. "The biggest and most important thing is he's a Santa Rosa boy, he's a Santa Rosa man, home grown, from here, who knows Santa Rosa County's problems," Smith said. "Shon Owens has deep strong ties in Santa Rosa County and the rural parts of Okaloosa County," Wright said in the same video, edited to make it appear as though he was finishing Smith's thought. Owens agrees with his Santa Rosa County backers that "this district is set up to be a Santa Rosa County seat" but is quick to point out that as state representative he will also be looking after the needs of residents of North Okaloosa as well. "We are primarily focused as a campaign in Santa Rosa because of the number of voters in Santa Rosa County versus Okaloosa County," he said. "We did have one recent meet and greet in Okaloosa County and drew over 90 people. I've been working with Okaloosa County on rural needs for years." Owens did add that he believes having a strong connection to local leadership is key to serving successfully in Tallahassee. "I've just lined up the support of the leaders in the community, and you've got to line up and support the leadership," he said. "We might not agree on everything, but at the end of the day you have to have a seat at the table." Boyles, whose company, Adams Sanitation, serves as the garbage service provider for thousands in Santa Rosa County and employs 75 county residents, said he believes he is better positioned than anyone in the District 3 race to serve as the representative. "Santa Rosa County's success is very important to me. Just as important as Okaloosa County is to me," he said. "I think I'm the only candidate with real connectivity in both counties." He questions the validity of the call for a Santa Rosa resident to serve as the District 3 representative. "I get a sense there are folks from Santa Rosa County supporting pushing the narrative that the state representative needs to be from Santa Rosa County," he said. "I was born and raised in Baker, (wife) Crystal and I are as Northwest Florida as it gets ... If you own a company and are hiring for a senior position you don't look at where the person is from, you pick the best person for the job." Though he said he as a politician can overlook differences he has with local leaders and represent the needs of everyone, Boyles relationship with the Santa Rosa County Commission might well have been a strained one even before the elected board members came out in support of Owens. Adams Sanitation sued Santa Rosa County in the early 2020's over public records and fought the commission for the right to provide sanitation services to the south end of Santa Rosa County. "Adams Sanitation fought a battle that might have been pretty painful for them," Boyles said of the commission, though only Wright was serving at the time the so-called "garbage wars" were waged. "I forced them to correct course and do the right thing." Though he ultimately voted to support Adams Sanitation efforts to operate in the county, Wright spoke in support of the company's competitor Waste Pro, in the dispute. Commissioners James Calkins and Sam Parker supported Adams Sanitation, and Boyles' company donated thousands of dollars to a PAC run by Calkins' grandmother during Calkins' ultimately unsuccessful run for county commission in 2024. The PAC was responsible for running ads smearing Wright, who was also seeking election in 2024 as well as the opponents of Calkins and Parker. Though they're getting the lion's share of the attention, both positive and negative, in the campaign, Boyles and Owens have lots of primary competition, and in a special election where low voter turnout is expected, anything − as candidate Jamie Wells reminded a crowd at a recent weekend golf event − can happen. "There are eight people in this field," Wells said. "Every vote counts." If any in the field can be considered a true dark horse candidate, it would be Hudson, an assistant state attorney who has gained Rudman's endorsement. In a Facebook video, Rudman denounced Owens and Boyles as establishment candidates and Boyles as being favored by "old time country club Republicans." He went on to say that while he had great love and respect for Smith, Sik, Merritt and Wells, only Hudson had the "resources and ability to raise money" needed to defeat the front runners. Hudson has raised $34,059, according to campaign finance reports. Hudson, who rails against Owens as "No Show" Shon Owens for the former mayor's failure to attend campaign forums, agrees that the District 3 state representative should reside in Santa Rosa County. "I think it is a Santa Rosa versus Okaloosa race, but I think there is a little more to it than that," he said. "This district needs a Santa Rosa representative, but this race is really establishment versus who will represent the district. I will represent the people in Okaloosa County just as effectively as those in Santa Rosa County." The winner of the District 3 primary will face off June 10 against Democrat Dondre Wise. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida House District 3 race serves Santa Rosa Okaloosa County
