Voters will not see any Leon County Sheriff candidates on the primary ballots, after changes were made in the final day of election qualification.
The Supervisor of Elections Office was prepared on Friday morning to see stragglers looking to qualify for candidacy in Leon County. Instead, the Sheriff’s race has been reconfigured and will not be holding a primary election. Mike Wood is switching from Democrat to no party affiliation, and Charles Strickland will move from NPA to Republican. Karen Williams at the Supervisor of Elections Office says a change this late is not unusual.
“As far as party affiliation is concerned, you must be a member of whichever party you choose to run as for 365 days prior to qualifying. But as far as re-designating how you are running for an office, anyone can run as a no party affiliation candidate, regardless of party affiliation," says Williams.
Tommy Mills has run with no party affiliation from the beginning of his campaign. Now that Walt McNeil is the only candidate running as a Democrat and Strickland is the only Republican, the candidates will bypass the August 30 primary altogether. All four will now head straight for the general election in November.
