With early voting beginning on Saturday, the office to become the next Marion County Sheriff and a seat on the Marion County Board of County Commissioners will effectively be decided in the primary election, with the two incumbents in the races having raised approximately $265,546.20 to their opponents’ $26,318.10.
The sheriff’s office and a seat on the commission will ultimately be decided during the primary election on August 20. Voting will take place on that day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early voting began on Saturday, August 10, and extends through Saturday, August 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To find your polling station, visit the Marion County Supervisor of Elections’ website.
The two candidates for each office mentioned above are running as registered Republicans. Because there are no additional candidates, Democrats or otherwise, the primary elections will effectively determine the winners.
For the position of sheriff, incumbent Sheriff Billy Woods is facing Milton Simmons Busby, Jr. For the District 1 Commission seat, incumbent Craig Curry is facing Sarah Almeida Dennis.
When we first reported campaign contributions in mid-June, Sheriff Billy Woods had raised just under $130,000.
According to campaign finance records from the supervisor’s website, as of August 2, the incumbent sheriff has raised approximately $169,020.
Woods has received individual donations from several prominent business owners and, in many instances, also received matching contributions from the business entities they owned as well. Among the many $1,000-contributors were Stentiford Construction, C B Gibson Construction, HTM Developers, Matthew Fabian (Fabian Construction), Frank DeLuca (DeLuca Toyota) Tieche Investments, EBRG, Geo-Technologies, Inc., State Farm Agent Scott J Cameron, Recharge, LLC, Marion Garage Doors, and these four businesses that are all registered to the same owner: Mountain Creek Land Co., Altamont Tennessee Land Co., Woodland Rdige Land Co., and Grundy County TN Land Co.
Comparatively, Busby, Jr., has raised approximately $18,874.40, or nearly nine times less than Woods.
Curry, who is seeking reelection to represent District 1 on the MCBCC, has amassed $96,526.20 as of August 2. When we last reported on the topic in mid-June, he had raised approximately $69,951 in campaign funds.
Curry’s opponent, Sarah Almeida Dennis, has raised approximately $7,442.70 as of August 2.
Curry’s campaign contributions also come from a long list of developers, construction companies, attorneys, and other businesses, with many making the maximum $1,000 contribution. That includes DeLuca Toyota, Gator Joe’s, Foxfire Realty, Acme Fill, LLC, J & B Developers, Jordan River Homes, LLC, Brown and Brown Insurance Agency, Sidney Colen and Associates, HTM Developers, LLC, Florida Express Environmental, Marion Gaming Management, Central Florida Gaming, LLC, and CFG Capital Partners, LLC, among many others.
In total, the four Marion County incumbents running for office this year have collected $413,418.40 in campaign contributions. Their opponents have raised approximately $33,928.10.
For more information on campaign contributions, early voting, or the upcoming primary elections, visit the Marion County Supervisor of Elections‘ website.