Santa Rosa Dems say 'something nefarious' underway on local ballot
*Editor's note: This story was edited to state clearly the date by which a candidate for county office must attest to have been a member of a particular political party in order to run for office and the dates when qualifying fees must be paid.
A Democrat, any Democrat, throwing his or her hat in the ring to seek office in uber-conservative Santa Rosa County could conceivably warrant a lot of attention from local party activists.
But in the case of William Blake Martin, who pre-filed on March 18 to run for the District 1 seat currently occupied by Santa Rosa County Commission Chair Sam Parker, what was initially enthusiasm has grown into out and out suspicion.
"It's very obvious something nefarious is going on there," said BJ Brunious, the county's elected Democratic State Committeeman.
Santa Rosa Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane confirmed that not only is Martin a real person who came into her office and filed required paperwork to run for office, but also that he is a registered Democrat and has been since 2013.
But Brunious said Martin, who he has spoken to just once, has not shown any inclination to join with the Democratic Party in its effort to unseat Parker.
He has rejected the offer of a full slate of volunteers to help him by knocking on doors or collecting the petitions needed to get on the November ballot. He has declined offers to come to various Democratic Party functions to speak or even to meet with local party leaders.
"He doesn't appear to be actively running for office," Brunious said.
Whether it was the candidate's reticence to interact with the party he has signed on to represent, or a search of Martin's Facebook Page, something made Santa Rosa Democrats begin questioning his motives.
The Facebook Page indicates not only that he is "friends" with Parker, the two-term incumbent he is running against, but also that among his long list of "likes" are logos for "Donald Trump for President," "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and "USA Patriots for Donald Trump."
Martin did not return phone calls and a text seeking comment.
Brunious said that, like the Pensacola News Journal, he had called the Supervisor of Elections Office to inquire about Martin and his party affiliation.
He said he was told Martin had originally attempted to register to run as a Republican but been informed that to do so he would have to sign an oath at the time he qualified in June attesting that he had been a member of the GOP for 365 days in advance of seeking office.
Villane stated that her office had informed Martin of the attestation provision and he had said he could not do so.
Pre-filing paper work provided to the News Journal shows the word Republican is crossed through on Martin's form and the word Democrat penciled in.
Santa Rosa County Democrats took to their own Facebook page after Martin's name appeared on the Supervisor of Elections website and openly questioned his candidacy.
"Does anyone know Blake Martin?" it asked "Is he another illegal ghost candidate?"
"Ghost candidates" captured headlines across Florida following the 2020 election cycle when, in three cases uncovered by reporters, no-party affiliation candidates filed paperwork to get their names on the ballot but did little else.
They raised no money, didn't make campaign appearances and ignored inquiries from the news media. While the candidates did nothing, hundreds of thousands of dollars in dark money were being pumped into campaign mailers as efforts were made to syphon votes from Democrats.
The most famous of the cases involved former Republican Florida State Rep. Frank Artiles, who faced several charges related to a scheme in which he paid his friend, Alexis "Alex" Rodriguez, to run as a NPA candidate for a state Senate seat against Democrat Jose Javier Rodríguez. The effort to confuse voters with two candidates of the same last name appeared to have been successful. Jose Javier Rodríguez, the incumbent, wound up losing to Republican Ileana Garcia by 34 votes.
The Democratic Party of Santa Rosa County issued a news release Monday calling on Martin to immediately withdraw his candidacy. Brunious said the local party is considering filing a complaint against Martin with the Florida Elections Commission.
But in filing to run as a Democrat, Martin is not entitled, as NPA write-in candidates are, to do nothing more than keep his name on the ballot to stay in the commission race through November, and by doing so effectively close the Republican primary to Democratic and Independent voters.
To remain a candidate, Villane said, he will be required to turn in 1,457 valid petitions by noon on May 13, or come up with a $5,241.54 fee when he officially qualifies to run at some point during the week of June 10-14.
Santa Rosa County voters are familiar with write-in candidates impacting local elections simply by appearing on the ballot.
The District 1 race in 2020 was closed to Democrats and Independent voters by write-in Chase Gilbert, who neither raised nor spent money on his campaign. Parker defeated three Republican challengers to emerge victorious in that race.
Likewise, District 3 County Commissioner James Calkins won election in 2020 in a race in which Patrick Brown ran as a write-in candidate and neither raised nor spent campaign funds. Calkins emerged from a crowded field to secure his first term on the commission.
A write-in candidate that has come under social media scrutiny in this election year is Michael Maradik, who has entered the Santa Rosa County Superintendent of School's race against incumbent Karen Barber, David Godwin and Brenda Stephens, all of whom pre-filed as Republicans.
Maradik is a Navarre resident who lives just down the road from Brenda Stephens and her husband Rick, who serves as his wife's campaign manager.
When Maradik's candidacy was questioned on the Santa Rosa County Political Circus Facebook page, Rick Stephens lashed out at Democrats, who will not be able to vote in the superintendent's race.
"Democrats are just mad because they can't vote for Barber since she more closely aligns with their beliefs and goals in indoctrinating the children," Stephens wrote.
Brenda Stephens is supported by Mom's For Liberty, a conservative self-proclaimed parents' rights group that has crossed swords with Barber and the Santa Rosa School Board over the group's efforts to ban certain books from school libraries.
Maradik did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Democrats question William Martin party affiliation