With a whopping 86% of the county’s registered voters casting ballots, St. Johns County elected some new faces, reelected a few candidates and OK’d paying a little more to help fund schools. 

While many of the biggest countywide races were all but decided in the August primary election, newcomer Linda Thomson won a runoff vote to claim a seat on the St. Johns County School Board. 

That seat represents District 5, which includes St. Augustine.

Thomson beat her opponent, teacher Bethany Hilbert, by just 750 votes — about 1.5% of the vote.

Thomson ran on a 40-year career in education, where she taught math and worked as a principal. Thomson worked in the St. Johns County Schools as the director of curriculum for K-12 education, retiring in 2017.

Tax measures

Along with the new School Board member, voters OK’d two measures to help fund the county’s schools. 

Along with the continuation of a half-cent sales tax, voters approved a new 1-mill property tax to help fund teacher salaries. That measure passed by 37% of the vote.

Superintendent Tim Forson said the result is a testament to St. Johns County residents wanting to support their students and teachers. 

“I think it just speaks to the people here who say, ‘We really want to support a high quality of life,’” Forson told Jacksonville Today. “In order to do that, we know that schools and doing the best we can for children is instrumental.”

Eighty-five percent of the funds raised by the new property tax will go toward raising salaries for teachers and other school personnel like bus drivers. The remaining 15%, Forson said, will allow the School District to respond to additional personnel needs that arise. 

Seeing the results of the ballot measures, Forson offered a word of gratitude to the residents of St. Johns County’s voters.

“It just opens up so many opportunities for the future of the school system,” he said.

Sheriff and County Commission

At the County Commission, three races were on the ballot this election, but all three were basically decided in August. Because of write-in and independent candidates running, the real contest for the St. Johns County Commission’s seats took place during the closed Republican primary contest. 

The three candidates who moved on from that race, newcomers Ann Taylor, Clay Murphy and incumbent Christian Whitehurst, won in August. In this election, they went up against candidates who were largely absent from the campaign trail. 

The tightest race for those candidates was Ann Taylor’s. She beat her opponent, Merrill Paul Roland, by 60% of the vote. The others secured victories by more than 90%.

The new commissioners will be sworn in during a special meeting Nov. 19.

As for the county’s constitutional officers, the only candidate with an opponent during this election was Sheriff Rob Hardwick, who beat his opponent, write-in candidate Terri Schurman, by a decisive 94% of the vote.

At the Statehouse

In the Florida Legislature, four seats were up for grabs, and it was an open field in each race due to term limits. 

Republicans Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, Rep. Bobby Payne, Sen. Travis Hutson and Sen. Paul Renner were unable to run again, so new candidates — also all Republicans — filled their seats. 

In District 18, which covers the northern part of St. Johns County, Kim Kendall took home a win over her Democratic opponent, Keith Matthews, by 40% of the vote. 

In District, 19, which includes St. Augustine and Palm Coast, Sam Greco beat Democrat Adam Morley. 

In District 20, which includes West St. Augustine and Palatka, Judson Sapp handily beat Democrat Tony Connolly.

And in State Senate District 7, which includes the majority of St. Johns County, Tom Leek, who has served in the legislature since 2016, took home a win over his Democrat opponent George Anthony “T” Hill II. 

Other races

Beyond the countywide races, some candidates still won big in contests with smaller constituencies. 

Those wins include Jonathan DePreter winning a seat on the St. Augustine City Commission, T.J. Mazzotta joining the Anastasia Mosquito Control District and Sandy Flowers taking a seat on the St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correctly note that Linda Thomson represents School Board District 5, not District 2.