{"id":61851,"date":"2025-11-26T18:59:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/61851\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T18:59:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:59:38","slug":"gulfport-opens-qualifying-period-dec-1-for-2026-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/61851\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulfport Opens Qualifying Period Dec. 1 for 2026 Election"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"entry-meta\">November 26, 2025 by Trei Johnson<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-138559 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/01Vote-Sign_Cameron-Healy_11132025-e1762373597623.jpg\" alt=\"two signs with red arrows pointing left that read &quot;VOTE&quot;\" width=\"1120\" height=\"730\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-138559 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/01Vote-Sign_Cameron-Healy_11132025-e1762373597623.jpg\" alt=\"two signs with red arrows pointing left that read &quot;VOTE&quot;\" width=\"1120\" height=\"730\"  \/> Gulfport voters will choose two City Council members for Ward I and III in the March 2026 municipal election. Gulfport\u2019s qualifying period runs from 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 1 through noon on Dec. 8.\u00a0\u00a0<br \/> Photo by Cameron Healy<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"235\" data-end=\"376\">Gulfport voters will choose two city council members for Ward I and III in the 2026 municipal election.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"235\" data-end=\"376\">Vice Mayor April Thanos will not seek re-election in Ward I. Council appointed Cosi Jackson to fill the vacant seat in Ward III when Paul Ray resigned last year. Jackson was sworn in on Feb. 11, 2025. Jackson picked up her qualifying packet, signaling her intention to run for the Ward III council seat.<\/p>\n<p>Gulfport\u2019s Qualifying Period for 2026 Election<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"408\" data-end=\"603\">The City of Gulfport\u2019s qualifying period runs from 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, through noon on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. Candidates must live in their ward for at least one year before qualifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"725\">As of Nov. 20, no candidates have qualified.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"725\">\u201cNo person is able to qualify until the qualifying period opens Monday, Dec. 1 at 8:30,\u201d City Clerk Theresa Carrico said. She did tell The Gabber Newspaper that Joe Guenther declared his candidacy for Ward I.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"725\">The Gabber Newspaper will publish the official list once the qualifying window closes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"725\">Subscribe to our daily newsletter, <a href=\"https:\/\/thegabber.us14.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=6a6f544ffd833c8d688dcbcd9&amp;id=6204919e05\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Spoonbill Scoop<\/a>, to get that article (and others) delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Key Election Dates<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"752\" data-end=\"888\">Election Day is Tuesday, March 10, 2026, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The last day to register to vote is Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Who Can Vote?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"909\" data-end=\"1057\">Registered voters in all four wards in the city may vote in every council race.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1059\" data-end=\"1120\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">More information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.votepinellas.gov\/Election-Information\/Elections\/Current-Upcoming-Elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">votepinellas.gov<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/mygulfport.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">mygulfport.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Want More Election News?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1059\" data-end=\"1120\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The Gabber Newspaper covers elections on the South Pinellas beaches, Gulfport, and South Pasadena. Want to make an informed decision at the polls? <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/g5RPoT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Subscribe to our weekly newsletters<\/a>. And make<a href=\"http:\/\/thegabber.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> thegabber.com<\/a> your homepage to stay up-to-date on all the news in Gulfport, South Pinellas, and the beaches.<\/p>\n<p>Gulfport\u2019s Qualifying Period for 2026 ElectionThe Gabber Newspaper\u2019s Election Coverage<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1059\" data-end=\"1120\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">As a newspaper, it is not our job to have an opinion about the campaigns and candidates. Our job is to report what happens, what key players say and do, and any legal activity concerning the campaign. This includes reporting on campaign finance, basic investigation into the candidates (and, as warranted, their families), and any unusual activity involving the campaigns. Read The Gabber Newspaper\u2018s<a href=\"https:\/\/thegabber.com\/the-gabber-newspapers-election-coverage-ethics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> full statement on our elections ethics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"after-content-cta-item-wrap after-content-cta-button-wrap\"><a class=\"after-content-cta-button button\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/supportfloridajournalism.com\/newspaper\/the-gabber\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Support The Gabber Newspaper<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"after-content-cta-item-wrap after-content-cta-content-wrap\">Your donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. The Florida Community News Fund is a program administered by the Florida Press Foundation, tax ID #59-2449377, a 501 (C) (3) organization. All donations made at this link go to The Gabber Newspaper through the Florida Press Association, a 501(c)(3).<\/p>\n<p>Please support local news and The Gabber Newspaper!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"November 26, 2025 by Trei Johnson Gulfport voters will choose two City Council members for Ward I and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[34793,15920,2271,14218,14219,34794,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-61851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-florida-elections","9":"tag-gulfport-city-council","10":"tag-gulfport-florida","11":"tag-gulfport-florida-city-hall","12":"tag-gulfport-florida-elections","13":"tag-pinellas-elections","14":"tag-st-pete","15":"tag-st-pete-headlines","16":"tag-st-pete-news","17":"tag-st-petersburg","18":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","19":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}