Democrat Benjamin Sandlin is launching a second run in Jacksonville’s HD 12, where he lost by 14 points to House Speaker Pro Tempore Wyman Duggan two years ago.
The Republican-leaning seat is open because Duggan is term-limited. It spans the St. Johns River in the southern part of Duval County.
The 22-year-old repeat candidate filed for the House race Friday, just three days before the beginning of qualifying on Monday, June 8.
He said the Florida Democratic Party and he had been talking and that they “agreed that this seat was just too close in 24 to leave uncontested.”
“That’d be a huge missed opportunity to have an extra voice for labor rights, public schools and housing justice in the Legislature,” Sandlin told Florida Politics on Saturday morning.
He had filed for the race to succeed Democrat Jimmy Peluso in City Council District 7, as Peluso has launched a run for an at-large seat.
Even after Sandlin dropped out, the District 7 race is still very crowded, with six Democrats and a no party affiliation candidate on the ballot.
As the sole Democrat in HD 12, it is likely Sandlin will advance to the November ballot upon qualifying.
Former Jacksonville City Council President Terrance Freeman is running in HD 12 to succeed Duggan.
Freeman is well-positioned for his Primary.
Through the end of May, he raised more than $167,000 to his campaign account and an additional $506,000 to an affiliated political committee, “For the Future We Want.”
He had roughly $390,000 on hand at the end of last month.
Freeman was appointed to the Jacksonville City Council in 2018 by former Gov. Rick Scott to fill a vacancy left when a former member encountered legal trouble. He was then elected to an at-large, countywide seat twice in 2019 and 2023, and served a year as Council President.
He has already announced that he will resign from the Council once a replacement is elected, which could be as soon as August, as there is a Special Election for the seat.
Republican Deborah Wesley, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Commander, is the choice of 10 current members of the City Council and is the only filed candidate for the Special. She has raised more than $80,000 as of the end of May.