Former school board chairman Forrest Van Camp is considering a run for Leon County Superintendent. Van Camp says if he decides to jump into the race, he’ll run as a Republican.
Running as a Republican would allow Van Camp to avoid a primary fight and head straight to the general election. That’s if no other Republicans decide to enter the race. It would also give him more time to fundraise in what’s proving to be an expensive race.
The other five candidates have raised more than $630,000
Van Camp chaired the Leon County School Board in 2014, but lost his re-election bid that year to school teacher Alva Swafford Striplin. The election came on the heels of accusations Superintendent Jackie Pons steered construction contracts to political donors. Subsequent audits cleared Pons and the district of wrongdoing, but there’s still the matter of an ongoing FBI investigation. There is at least one other audit ongoing.
If Van Camp decides to enter the race he’ll make candidate number six. Leon High School principal Rocky Hanna, one of the whistle-blowers in the construction case, is running as a no no party affiliation candidate. So are former superintendent candidate Patricia Sunday, and private investigator Michael Wynn. Pons is running for re-election as a Democrat and faces city commissioner Scott Maddox in an August primary.
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*Correction(s): It is commissioner Scott Maddox, not Nick Maddox, running for Superintendent. The word "candidate" was inadvertently left off of Patricia Sunday's description.
