Term-limited Brevard commissioners seek countywide office; sheriff faces write-in candidate

Two Republican Brevard County commissioners who can't run for reelection because of term limits are seeking countywide office this year — District 1 Commissioner Rita Pritchett for tax collector and District 3 Commissioner John Tobia for supervisor of elections.

They will face the Republicans currently holding the offices — Tax Collector Lisa Cullen and Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic — in an Aug. 20 GOP primary. The winners move on to the Nov. 5 general election, facing write-in candidates whose names will not appear on the ballot.

Because there are write-in candidates in those two races, under state election law, only Republicans can vote in the GOP primaries for supervisor of elections and tax collector. Had there been only Republicans running and no write-in candidate, those primary would have been open to all voters, including Democrats, members of minor political parties and "no party affiliation" voters.

As of Friday, among the 426,105 registered voters in Brevard, there were 191,997 Republicans; 113,386 Democrats; 106,731 no party affiliation voters; and 13,991 members of minor political parties. So a closed Republican primary eliminates about 54.9% of the registered voters from being able to participate in those elections.

In a third countywide race, write-in candidate Brian Potters is challenging incumbent Republican Sheriff Wayne Ivey in the Nov. 5 general election.

There are no Democratic candidates in any of these three countywide elections.

The candidate qualifying period ended Friday.

Supervisor of elections

Tobia announces plan to run: County Commissioner Tobia running for Brevard supervisor of elections in 2024

Bobanic was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the supervisor of elections position in September 2022, filling a vacancy created by the resignation of Republican Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott, who resigned in the middle of her term after nearly 14 years in that position. Before his appointment as supervisor of elections by DeSantis, Bobanic had been Scott's director of information technology and election services.

Tobia is completing his second four-year term on the County Commission, representing South Brevard's District 3, and previously served for eight years as a member of the Florida House of Representatives.

Sandra Cottrell on June 11 qualified as a write-in candidate in the race.

The supervisor of elections has an annual salary of $184,356 and has a four-year term.

Tax collector

Pritchett seeks tax collector office: County Commissioner Rita Pritchett to run against incumbent Lisa Cullen for tax collector

Cullen, a Canaveral Groves resident, has served as Brevard’s tax collector since 2008. She has won three unopposed elections since then. Prior to leading the agency, she worked in the office for decades.

Pritchett is finishing up her second term as county commissioner. The Titusville resident has represented North Brevard District 1 since 2016. Due to term limits, her tenure on the County Commission will end in November. She previously served on the Titusville City Council.

Daniel Edwin Lopez filed paperwork on June 10 to run for the position as a write-in candidate.

The tax collector position pays an annual salary of $184,356 and has a four-year term.

Sheriff

Ivey is seeking a fourth four-year term, with his only opponent being Potters, the write-in candidate, who is a former sheriff's deputy who was shot in the line of duty in August 2021.

Ivey was first elected sheriff in 2012, and was reelected in 2016 and 2020. Before becoming sheriff, Ivey was the local resident agent in charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Ivey's law enforcement experience includes various positions at the FDLE, the Clay County Sheriff's Office and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Potters originally was going to run as a Republican, but switched his candidacy during the candidate qualifying period to becoming a write-in candidate. As a Republican, Potters would have had to pay a $12,591.60 candidate qualifying fee or gather enough signatures on petitions to qualify for a ballot spot. There is no such requirement for a write-in candidate.

Potters joined the BCSO in March 2020. He was assigned to North Precinct Patrol Services in Titusville at the time of the shooting.  Prior to his employment with the BCSO, Potters was employed by the Titusville Police Department and Fayette County Constable's Office in Kentucky. He served in the Marine Corps from 2003 through 2009, as a member of the military police, stationed in California, Hawaii and Virginia. He was honorably discharged in 2009 as a corporal.

The sheriff's position pays an annual salary of $222,274.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at [email protected], on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Term-limited county commissioners seek countywide office vs. incumbents