The owner of a popular Ocala coffee shop and a longtime nurse who is the Chairwoman of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee have both just filed their candidacies to compete for a Marion County School Board seat that is being vacated by an eight-year incumbent.
Mike Mills and Brigitte Smith both filed this month to campaign for the Marion County School Board District 4 seat. Mills filed his candidacy on May 4, while Smith filed hers on May 15.
In addition to being the owner of Symmetry Coffee Company in Ocala, Mills is also the chief story teller for iServ LLC, which is one of the largest Sonny’s franchisees in the country. A father and United States Navy Veteran, Mills also maintains a role as an adjunct professor at the College of Central Florida.
Smith is a longtime nurse who has traveled around the world to provide medical services. She maintains a role as the Chairwoman of the Marion County Republican Party and its executive committee, and previously served in the United States Army Nursing Corps Reserves.
Both candidates are vying for the District 4 seat that will be vacated by Nancy Thrower, who is not running for reelection. Mills and Smith join two other candidates who previously filed to run for the seat: Jeff Brewer and Buddy Wyckoff.
Records maintained by the Marion County Supervisor of Elections show that Brewer has raised $1,803 and Wyckoff has raised $650 in monetary contributions. There are no recorded monetary contributions for the two newest candidates as of Monday, May 18.
Currently, there are 16 candidates vying for five total seats. Two of those seats are on the Marion County Board of County Commissioners (MCBCC) and the other three are on the Marion County School Board.
Last month, Ocala-News.com reported that three candidates (Mike Crimi, Sarah James, and Sherri Lynn Meadows) have accumulated over $223,000 in donations. At least five other candidates have raised more than $14,000 in monetary contributions (Randall Alvord, Jeff Bairstow, Wanda Wimberly, Brien Weidemiller, and Matthew Cretul).
Since Ocala-News.com’s last report about developers and real estate investors having the largest amount of political contributions in the county, one of the individuals running for the MCBCC District 4 seat (Anthony Barriner-Massa) has withdrawn his candidacy.
The general election is scheduled for November 3 and the primaries are scheduled for August 18.
For more information on polling locations or the upcoming election, visit the Marion County Supervisor of Elections online.
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