Candidates running for state and local office are turning in their paperwork this week to get their names on 2026 ballots.
The qualifying period for most local and state candidates kicked off at noon Monday and runs through noon Friday. Candidates must either submit voter signatures or pay fees, which vary race to race, to appear on the ballot.
It’s actually the state of Florida’ second qualifying period of the election year. Qualifying for judicial races happened in April.
As it stands now, nearly every city, county and School Board race has at least two filed competitors, though that could change by the time qualifying ends.
County Commissioner Bill Proctor and School Board member Darryl Jones are the only local incumbents who have not yet drawn a challenger. Two other incumbents, County Commissioner Nick Maddox and School Board member Alva Smith, both have opposition but only from write-in candidates.
Leon Circuit Judges Tiffany Baker-Carper and Steven Everett and Leon County Judge Nina Ashenafi-Richardson were automatically re-elected in April after they qualified without opposition. Circuit Judge Jason Jones is facing challenger Stephanie Cager in Group 7 while Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh is facing opponent Rashad Green in Group 13.
Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley called candidate qualifying “a critical part of our elections” in a June 8 news release.
“This is the final step that establishes who will appear on our ballots,” he said. “Anyone planning to run for local office must make sure to carefully follow the required steps to qualify. Recent legislation made changes to qualifying paperwork, so candidates should ensure they are using current forms and following the latest laws.”
Below are candidates for local and legislative office who have filed to run, with those who have qualified in bold. The list will be updated throughout the week.
Leon County Commission at-large Group 2
Mehwish Rashid, qualified as a write-in
Leon County Commission District 1
Bill Proctor (incumbent): Qualified
Leon County Commission District 3
Charles Bryan Lorch: Filed
Rick Minor (incumbent): Qualified
Leon County Commission District 5
David O’Keefe (incumbent): Qualified
Tallahassee City Commission Seat 3
Talethia Edwards: Qualified
Tallahassee mayor
Loranne Ausley: Qualified
Jeremy Matlow: Qualified
Tallahassee City Commission Seat 5
Dot Inman-Johnson: Filed
Bernard Michael Stevens II: Filed
Dianne Williams-Cox (incumbent): Qualified
Leon County School Board District 1
James Richard Billingsley: Qualified as a write-in
Alva Smith (incumbent): Filed
Leon County School Board District 3
Darryl Jones (incumbent): Filed
Leon County School Board District 5
Marcus Nicolas (incumbent): Filed
James Reilly Jr.: Qualified
Florida House District 7
Jason Shoaf (Republican, incumbent): Filed
Angela Tracy Wiman (NPA): Filed
Florida House District 8
Gallop Franklin (Democrat, incumbent): Qualified
Aaron Ruddell (Independent Party): Filed
Florida House District 9
Jibiri Knight (Republican): Qualified
Tracy Latroy Robinson: Filed
Allison Tant (Democrat, incumbent): Qualified
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2026 Tallahassee, Leon elections: Candidate qualifying updates