In a surprise announcement shared at the tail end of Tuesday’s meeting, five-term county commissioner Cheryl Sanders said she will not be running for re-election this fall.
“I’ve been doing a lot of praying and thinking about things,” she said. “I will not seek reelection again. I’ve been here 20 years, and the people have given me the opportunity and the honor to serve them for 20 years. I will not be putting my name for reelection and I will not be endorsing anyone for the office.”
Sanders’ longtime colleague, Noah Lockley, quickly interjected that “and you got plenty of time to change your mind,” but Sanders answered him back firmly.
“I won’t,” she said. “I’ll talk about it later when I can talk about it. They’ll be some comments later on.”
First elected in 1998, when she defeated Johnnie Gray and Raymond Williams in the Democratic primary for District 2 commissioner, Sanders, the sister of former state representative Will Kendrick, soon emerged as a outspoken leader in her own right, blending a thorough knowledge of county issues with an unabashed sharing of tender emotion when the moment called for it. She served several terms as county chair, drawing on a keen recall of specifics regarding commission decision-making over the past two decades.
She was reelected in 2002 without opposition, and then in 2006 defeated Republican challenger Don Ashley. In 2010, she defeated Republican Bill Snyder and Richard Sands, who ran without party affiliation, and four years later, downed Republican Mark Nobles.
Supervisor of Elections Heather Riley said Sanders stopped by the elections office after Tuesday’s meeting to share her announcement personally with the office staffers.
“She’s always been a very conscientious member of the canvassing board, always been a great advocate for our office,” said Riley. “She always been real open to picking up the phone and always easy to talk to.”
Riley said she expects a robust field of candidates to emerge in the months ahead for the open county commission seat, whose region extends east from Carrabelle to Lanark Village, St. James and Alligator Point to the county line.
In addition, she said, a candidate came forward Friday to file a letter of intent for the Democratic nomination for tax collector, the first to wade into the field. Tami-Ray Hutchinson, 49, of Apalachicola, plans to seek the opportunity to challenge the Republican incumbent Rick Watson, who was appointed last April by Gov. Rick Scott to succeed Jimmy Harris.
“I’m excited about it (the election year),” said Riley. “ I think it could be a record for an off-year election. This opens the door for a lot more interest across the county.”
Prospective candidates have between now and the third week of June to file a letter of intent. The week of June 18 to 22 is the official qualifying period, during which individuals who wish to run must file the required paperwork.