After Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, announced Thursday he would not seek re-election amid a controversy about alleged sexual harassment, the first candidate has emerged to try to succeed him.
Tallahassee Democrat Gallop Franklin opened a campaign account Friday to run in House District 8 in Leon and Gadsden counties, according to the state Division of Elections website.
Alexander, D-Tallahassee, had been slated to become House Democratic leader after the November elections. But he announced he would not run for another term in the House after a report by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper detailed allegations against Alexander by a former Florida A&M University employee.
In the newspaper report, Alexander described a consensual relationship with former FAMU athletic-department employee Michael Johnson Jr. — which Johnson denied.
