New election challenger for Key West’s Clayton Lopez

August primary election candidate slates set

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

A last minute-entry into the District 6 Key West City Commission election will challenge current Commission Clayton Lopez for his seat.

Nathan Brock, 35, got the go-ahead for his candidacy from the Monroe County Election Supervisor‘s office on the last day of election qualifications. Brock is a Master Sargent in the Air National Guard and a combat veteran with multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is currently waiting for military clearance before beginning his formal campaign.

Other than Brock’s last minute filing, there were no surprises in the 2016 Monroe County election qualifying round that ended June 24. All the candidates in Key West and at the county level that had submitted their paperwork for a variety of open positions in the August 30 primary election qualified to continue their campaigns.

Two of the six open seats in Key West are uncontested, allowing City Commissioners Billy Wardlow and Jimmy Weekley to run for reelection unopposed. But there is a real race for Key West City Mayor, with two candidates running against incumbent Craig Cates. And the two open seats on the Key West Utility Board have also drawn multiple candidates.

If none of the candidates for the contested seats win at least 50 percent of the vote in the August primary, a run-off election will be held during the general presidential election on Nov. 8.

At the county level, there are contested races for eight of the 16 positions up for election, including a vigorous race for clerk of the court, where incumbent Amy Heavilin, who drew criticism early in her first term when several of her staff resigned, faces two challengers. Campaigning against Heavilin are former Florida Keys State House Rep. Ron Saunders and Monroe County Director of Strategic Planning Kevin Madok.

Monroe County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy faces challenger Robert Majeska, a small business owner, for reelection to the seat she currently holds representing District 5.

In the Key West mayoral race, Cates is running for an unprecedented fifth term as mayor. Normally, term limit rules would have forced Cates out after four terms. However, when the city changed its election schedule to coincided with the state’s, Cates’ four-year term was cut to two years. As a result, he was able to run for a fifth term, according to City Attorney Shawn Smith.

Challenging Cates are Rev. Randy Becker, who has served on the Bahama Village Redevelopment Advisory Committee, the Truman Waterfront Advisory Board, and the Key West High School Truancy Team. He is also President of the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance and on the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition Board.

Cates’ other challenger is Ed “Krane” Karsch, publisher of The Blast, a Key West events e-magazine.

Cates has by far the largest war chest of campaign contributions, $36,240 versus $2,700 for Karsch and $4,064 for Becker.

There are two seats up for election on the Key West Utility Board, Group 2 and Group 3. In Group 2, incumbent Peter Batty, Sr., is running for reelection against Thomas Milone. In Group 3, incumbent Tim Root is running against Carol Schreck and the one-named Vidal, a local photographer who has run previously for a seat on the utility board.

There are two seats on the Monroe County School Board that will be decided in the Aug. 30 primary election. District 2 incumbent Andy Griffiths is running unopposed, while District 3 incumbent Edward Davidson is running against Mindy Conn, a college success coach with the local education mentoring and college scholarship group, Take Stock in Children.

But it is the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board races that are drawing the most attention from candidates. The controversy over whether the board will allow genetically-modified mosquitoes to be released in Key Largo as part of a pilot program to control disease-bearing bugs has provoked passionate responses from residents, both for and against. Three board seats are up for election. In District 1, three candidates have submitted election paperwork; incumbent Jill Cranney is running against Oliver Kofoid and Kathryn Watkins.

In District 3, Stephen Hammond and Brandon Pinder are running against Stephen Smith, the incumbent.

And in District 4, Janet Wood, Larry Zettwoch and Stanley Zuba are running to be first time mosquito board commissioners, replacing incumbent William Shaw who is not running again.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]