primary

Margie Gandy will keep her Nassau County Ocean, Highway and Port Authority District 3 seat and Tammy Stiles will be the Republican candidate for property appraiser following a state-mandated recount.

Gandy received 5,507 votes to challenger Lear's 5,461 for a 46-vote victory after a recount by the Canvassing Board, Supervisor of Elections Vicki Cannon reported.

Stiles' margin of victory over Larry Williams in the three-way Republican primary for property appraiser was even slimmer – 32 votes. Stiles received 2,990 votes to Williams' 2,958.

By WENDI ZONGKER
wendi.zongker@mynassausun.com

YULEE — Votes from at least one Nassau County race will be recounted Friday due to the slim margin of victory, Nassau County Supervisor of Elections Vicki Cannon said today.

Property appraiser candidate Tammy Stiles appears to have beaten Larry Williams and Michael Franklin for the Republican spot on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

She edged out Williams by 31 votes or .37 percent.

Cannon said Florida statutes require a machine recount if the race is won by less than .50 percent. Manual recounts are required if a race is won by .25 percent.

On Aug. 26, several Nassau County residents will be vying in the county's primary elections to secure their place on the Nov. 4 general election's ballot. In order for residents to learn more about each candidate, My Nassau Sun will give each opposed candidate an opportunity to answer reader-submitted questions in a video that will be posted on MyNassauSun.com on Aug. 16.

If you have a question for a primary candidate running for property appraiser, sheriff, county commissioner, school board, Amelia Island Mosquito Control or the Ocean, Highway & Port Authority, please e-mail it to Tracy.Jones@jacksonville.com by July 30. Questions must be specific to the elected position and not to the individual candidate.

by AMELIA A. HART

amelia.hart@mynassausun.com

Eight Nassau County incumbents earned another term in office when they were the only candidates to qualify to run this week.

Clerk of the Circuit Court John A. Crawford, Supervisor of Elections Vicki Peterson Cannon, Tax Collector John M. Drew, Superintendent of Schools John L. Ruis, all Republicans, and non-partisan School Board members Gail G. Cook in District 2 and Jim Adams in District 4, and Soil and Water Conservation District members Tom Ford for Group 2 and Dana R. Bell for Group 4 will all return to office.

Qualifying ended at noon today.

Although Nassau County Commission District 1 incumbent Jim B. Higginbotham ran four years ago as a Republican, he qualified to run this week with no party affiliation meaning he will face Republican challenger Danny Leeper in the general election in November.

Republicans Michael C. Franklin, Tammy Stiles and Larry Williams will run for the GOP nomination for Property Appraiser in the Republican primary Aug. 26. The winner will face Democrat Ray Harper in November.

Incumbent Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves will be challenged in the Republican primary by C.W. "Connie" Johnson, Richard King and Carlos E. Slay. The winner will face Democratic candidate Jim Coe in November.

Incumbent County Commission District 5 incumbent Marianne Marshall will face Walter (JR) Boatright in the Republican primary. The winner will go up against Democrat Ramiro Palma in the District 5 race in November.

The race for Ocean, Highway & Port Authority District 1 also will go to the general election as Melvin Usery qualified as a Republican and Peter Mallory qualified with no party affiliation.

With only Republicans — Wynn Fendig, Stacy Johnson and Grady Howard Wright — qualifying to run, all Nassau County registered voters will be able to vote Aug. 26 in the race to replace County Commission District 3 member Tom Branan, who is resigning as of July 14.

All voters also can cast ballots Aug. 26 in the following races since they are either nonpartisan or only Republicans qualified to run:
• School Board District 1: Donna Martin and Dave Mazur
• Amelia Island Mosquito Control Member, Group 1: Clyde Goodbread and Ralph Jim Suarez
• Ocean, Highway & Port Authority District 2: Danny Fullwood and Jennifer Kelly-Sheffield (both Republicans); and
• Ocean, Highway & Port Authority District 3: Margie Gandy and Shirley Lear (both Republicans)