The noon qualifying deadline Friday for those wishing to run for election this year has come and passed, and the ballot for the Aug. 23 primary election is now officially set.
That primary will also dictate in many ways who appears on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, which will be a potential runoff for several races.
There are numerous seats on city and county boards, commissions and councils, and Osceola County will also choose four members of the state House of Representatives (up from three since the last redistricting) it will send to Tallahassee.
In Osceola County, city and School Board races are non-partisan.
Early voting for the primary will run from Aug. 8-21.
Here’s who’s qualified to run for those offices this year:
County Commision
District 2: Viviana Janer (Democrat) is the two-term incumbent. Beulah Farquharson (No Party Affiliation) is a real estate and income tax professional who has run for a handful of county positions over the last two decades.
District 4: A field of Democrats will run in an open August primary: two-term incumbent Cheryl Grieb, former Kissimmee commissioner Carlos Irizarry and real estate professional and downtown Kissimmee businesswoman Jackie Espinosa.
Kissimmee City Commission
Seat 2: Incumbent and downtown Kissimmee restaurateur Felix Ortiz will be challenged by former City Commissioner Angela Eady.
Seat 4: Incumbent Jim Fisher takes on challenger Janette Martinez, a write-in candidate for County Commission in 2020.
St. Cloud City Council
Seat 4: Lifelong city resident and retail manager Tom Lord faces businessman, coach, and charity founder Ken Gilbert for a seat being vacated by David Askew.
Seat 5: Keith Trace is not running for re-election, and four residents have lined up to replace him: Stephanie Chmielewski, Shawn Fletcher, Christine Ladas-Drake and Jeffrey Rivera.
School Board
District 1: Incumbent Terry Castillo has drawn opposition from James Nickles and Jennifer Arguello, the sister of District 3 member Jon Arguello.
District 4: Marketing entrepreneur Heather Kahoun, teacher and coach Will Fonseca and community-involved parent Mindy Brewster have lined up to replace the outgoing Clarence Thacker.
District 5: Robert Bass relinquishes the seat, and teachers Erika Booth and Debbie Mann will run for it.
State House of Representatives
District 35: This district covers much of eastern Osceola County that incumbent Republican Fred Hawkins represents now, and includes part of Lake Nona and eastern Orange County up into Bithlo and Christmas. Qualified challengers include Republicans Kenneth Davenport and Dianna Liebnitzky and Democrats Tahitiana Chaffin, Rishi Bagga and Tom Keen.
District 45: The district that represented Celebration, ChampionsGate, Reunion and Four Corners used to go south into Polk County, represented by Josie Tomkow, now goes north into the Horizon West area of Orange County. The field features Democrat Allie Braswell and Republicans Carolina Amesty, Vienna Francois, Janet Frevola, Bruno Portigliatti and Mike Zhao.
District 46: Formerly District 43 and much of what Kristen Arrington represented; that district gains all of Poinciana while losing Buenaventura Lakes. Arrington’s running for re-election against Republican Christian De La Torre and NPA candidate Ivan Rivera.
District 47: A new district carved out of the city limits of St. Cloud, Buenaventura Lakes, the north and west sides of West Lake Toho and Neptune Road. The candidates are Democrats Horng Jeng, Dan Marquith and Anthony Nieves and Republican Paula Stark.
