Candidate qualifying ends at noon Friday / 17 incumbents and hopefuls have lined up for city seats at noon tomorrow
The qualifying period to run for one of the four Cape Coral City Council seats, including the one for mayor, in the Aug. 18 primary is nearly over.
Qualifying opened June 8 at noon and concludes at noon on June 12 by which time candidates must submit their paperwork and pay the election fees to run for office.
Pre-qualifying began last week, whereby candidates could submit their paperwork early.
The seats of Cape Coral council members William Steinke, District 1; Jennifer Nelson-Lastra, District 4; and Keith Long, District 6, are up this year, as is the mayoral seat held by John Gunter.
Council members qualify in their respective districts but are elected at large, meaning all registered city voters may cast a ballot in each race. Candidates must reside in their district and have been continuous full-time residents of the city for the entire calendar year immediately preceding their qualification for office. Council elections are non-partisan. Terms are four years long, and members are limited to two consecutive terms.
Steinke and Long were elected in 2022. Nelson-Lastra was elected in 2024, defeating appointed incumbent Richard Carr, who was seeking to finish a two-year term that was left vacant by Patty Cummings. Cummings was suspended by the Governor’s Office after she was arrested on charges related to her claims of residency within her district.
Gunter, then a council member, was appointed mayor in January 2021 after the passing of Joe Coviello. He was elected mayor in 2022.
As of press time Thursday, six individuals have announced they are running for mayor including: John Gunter, Richard Erickson, Richard Andrew Leon, Lisa Cohen-Adkinson, Dan Sheppard and Kara Rogers. Of the aforementioned candidates, Cohen-Adkinson, Erickson, and Sheppard have qualified.
As of press time Thursday, four individuals have announced they are running for the District 1 seat, including: Sean Hartman, David Newton, Thomas James Senatore, and Thomas Shadrach. Of the aforementioned candidates, Newton, and Senatore have qualified.
As of press time Thursday, Jennifer Nelson Lastra and James Vargas have announced for District 4. Thus far, Vargas has qualified.
As of press time Thursday, five individuals have announced they are running for District 6, including: Joseph Michael Angrisano, Jeffrey W. Huddleston, Liza King, Raymond Salvatore Mule, and Annette Warren. Of the aforementioned candidates, all but Huddleston have qualified as of Thursday at press time.
The filing fee to run for one of the Cape Coral council seats is $541.71. The filing fee to run for mayor is $645.91.
There are three seats up for election on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.
District 2 Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass (R-Fort Myers), whose district covers Fort Myers, is seeking re-election to a new four-year term and is currently unchallenged and has qualified. District 4 Commissioner Brian Hamman (R-Cape Coral), whose district includes Cape Coral and Fort Myers, is also seeking re-election a four-year term and is currently unchallenged and has qualified. District 5 Commissioner Trish Petrosky (R-Alva) is seeking to retain her seat after being appointed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the seat that had been held the late Commissioner Mike Greenwell. She is currently facing a challenge from Alva resident Amanda Cochran, a Republican, who previously lost to Greenwell in a close primary race. Michael Mincieli who is an announced write in with no party affiliation listed.
Florida is a closed primary state with voting open to all voters regardless of party affiliation only if there is no out-of-party candidate.
Petrosky and Cochran have qualified thus far. District 5 includes Alva, Buckingham, Lehigh Acres, and part of North Fort Myers.
Lee County School Board seats are also for four-year terms.
There are four school board seats up for election with three elected by district and one at-large. Up are District 1, District 4, District 5, and District 6 this November.
District 1 is held by Sam Fisher, who is currently facing challenges from Cape Coral residents Heidi Charlotte Fausel, and Jenn McDaigle. Thus far McDaigle has qualified.
District 4 is held by Debbie Jordan, who is being challenged by Fort Myers residents Carl Baxter and Gisele Gentile, and North Fort Myers resident Tony Beougher. All candidates other than Beougher had qualified as of press time Thursday.
District 5 is held by Chair Armor Persons, who is facing challenges from Fort Myers residents Crystal Johnson and Carline Saintilus. All candidates have qualified.
District 6 is the at-large seat currently held by Jada Langford-Fleming. Fort Myers resident India Palencia has announced she is challenging Langford-Fleming for the seat. Both have qualified.
In addition to the local races, there will be statewide races up for election this November including Governor, State House and State Senate.
Locally, State Rep. Mike Giallombardo (R-Cape Coral), who represents the Cape in the state legislature, is running for another two-year term representing District 79. So far, Giallombardo is facing a challenge from Democrat Bryan Javier Figueroa. Giallombardo has qualified.
State Rep. Adam Botana (R-Bonita Springs), who represents Fort Myers Beach in the state legislature, is running for another two-year term representing District 80. District 80 includes Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel. So far, Botana is facing a challenge from Estero Democrat William Moskal.
Those running for a State House seat, need to file paperwork with the State Division of Elections in Tallahassee. The state seats have the same qualifying dates as the local seats.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com