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Residents in eastern Osceola and Orange counties will go back to the polls for a District 35 on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and a special general election, if needed, on Jan. 16. FILE PHOTO
On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis scheduled -- finally -- the special election to fill the state House of Representatives District 35 seat, vacated by St. Cloud's Fred Hawkins when he accepted the role of campus president at South Florida State College in Avon Park.
A primary election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and a special general election, if needed, on Jan. 16, the News Service of Florida reported Wednesday.
As of this week, the race includes three Republicans and three Democrats -- Democrat Marucci Guzmán of Orlando announced Wednesday she had filed to run. The other five all ran political races just a year ago. Democrats Rishi Bagga and Tom Keen and Republican Ken Davenport ran in the District 35 race; Bagga won the primary and lost the general election to Hawkins. Republican Scott Moore ran for the U.S. Congressional seat against Darren Soto, and Republican Erika Booth ran for and won the Osceola County School Board District 5 race, a seat she will vacate to run for District 35. The governor will have to name a replacement to the School Board, and an off-year election will be then held in 2024 to fill the seat.
It means that the eventual winner, if they want to run for District 35 re-election, would be running for office three years in a row.
House District 118, in Miami-Dade County, also requires a special election, which has been scheduled for Oct. 3 and Dec. 5.
The House is scheduled to start holding committee meetings during the week of Sept. 18 in advance of the 2024 legislative session, which will start Jan. 9.
