politics Archive

With the June 12 deadline passed, the list of candidates running for office in Santa Rosa County during the August primary has been set.

For the first time in nearly two years, Matt Gaetz is once again a public official after being nominated to serve on the Triumph Gulf Coast Board of Directors, beginning July 1.

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins launched what he called his “Come and Take It” tour on June 16 during a campaign stop at Gray Man Armory in Milton, saying that he will push to repeal Florida’s red flag laws, lift a bump stock ban lower the age for firearm purchases to 18-to-20-year-olds.

Paul Renner, the former speaker of the Florida House and current gubernatorial candidate, made a campaign stop in Pace on June 1, pitching himself as the candidate best positioned to lower property taxes, rein in utility costs and take on out-of-state-interests.

Incumbent County Commissioner Kerry Smith didn’t qualify for the 2026 ballot based on petitions and now must pay $5,460.06 to stay in the race for Commission District 2.
Smith, along with fellow District 2 candidates Michael Rinaldi and Shawn Kay, failed to garner the required number of petitions by the May 11 deadline.

The Santa Rosa County Commission voted to approve a contract for school zone speed cameras, brushing aside privacy concerns raised during public comment over AI-powered surveillance tied to the deal.

The contract, requested jointly by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and Santa Rosa County District Schools, is with Maryland-based company Altumint, a speed camera provider that will install enforcement cameras in 15 school zones across the county.

Four years after narrowly losing to Kerry Smith for the District 2 Santa Rosa County Commission seat, Jeff Ates IV is back. This go round, he is facing seven other candidates, including Smith.
Ates is a lifelong East Milton resident and ran a dirt pit in the area for around 25 years. The pit has supplied dirt and other earthworks for projects across Santa Rosa County. He also managed hunting land in the 1980s and 1990s and currently consults for North American IPS, LLC.

State Rep. Nathan Boyles, R-Baker, is wrapping up what he calls his first full legislative session in Tallahassee, and the freshman Republican said the biggest adjustment has been learning how to move policy in a chamber with far more colleagues — and competing interests — than the Okaloosa County Commission he came from.

Matthew Taylor, a candidate for Florida commissioner of agriculture who goes by “Matt the Welder” on social media, made a campaign stop in Pace on March 23, where he said the political establishment, including his own party, is working to keep him off the ballot.

Doug Chico didn’t plan to run for Congress. The 35-year-old Navy veteran and sixth-generation Northwest Florida native said he’d rather spend more time with his family. But a local surveillance camera rollout last fall set him on a path to challenge incumbent Rep. Jimmy Patronis in the August Republican primary for Florida’s 1st Congressional District.