Orlando, Fla. — Tuesday kicks off election season in Central Florida as Flagler County and members of Florida's House of Representatives district 24 head to the polls. More elections will come next week.

Perhaps the biggest race in the state on Tuesday is the special election to decide the primary, and most likely, the defacto candidate who will claim the Florida House district 24 seat. The primary is scheduled for Tuesday, and to date, only Republicans have filed to run in the election, which means the race won't have to go to the general election scheduled for May. 

The candidates running in the primary are Justin Albright, Ryan Chamberlin, Jose Juarez, Stephen Pyles, and Charlie Stone. 

The district previously included Flagler Beach and much of the Palm Coast, working inland to include parts of DeLand. However, beginning in November of 2022, the district instead represents much of the area south of Ocala. After the resignation of Rep. Josesh Harding, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a special election in December. 

Residents in Flagler County are set to decide who will occupy the two open seats on the Flagler City Commission. There are five candidates in the race, but only the two with the highest vote count will take their place as winners. According to the Flagler County Supervisor of Elections, the candidates for the City Commission are Rick Belhumeur, Bob Cunningham, Doug "Bruno" O'Connor, Deborah R. Phillips, and Scott Spradley. 

Also in Flagler County, residents of the Town of Beverly Beach are having a mail-in ballot only election to confirm five amendments to the town's charter. The first amendment calls for "common language" in the charter to replace "obsolete terms." The second proposal would adjust the residency requirement of an elected official in the town to one year, up from six months. The third proposal includes language to standardize the qualifying period for elections. The last two would adopt State of Florida provisions for runoff elections in local races and support "clarification" of the duties of the town clerk in budgeting respectively. 

The City of Bunnell, also in Flagler County, had an election up this year for two City Commission seats, but the incumbents were unopposed, so the election was canceled. 

Next Tuesday, residents in Maitland and Ocoee, both suburb communities around the greater Orlando area, get in on the fun as they head to the polls to decide several municipal elections. 

In Maitland, there's an election for City Council seat number 4, which will be between Lindsay Hall Harrison and Dale McDonald. Additionally, residents will decide to approve or deny five city charter amendments. The first proposed amendment outlines a plan for Mayoral succession, should the post be vacant. It calls for the Vice Mayor to serve the remainder of the Mayor's term if the amendment is approved. 

The next amendment would eliminate a prior rule that made the Maitland City Code available to the public in various public places, or available for purchase. Instead, the proposal includes language that would only require a printed copy of the code to be available in the office of the City Clerk. 

The third amendment would include rules to facilitate local run-off elections, and the last two proposals would "clarify" the petition certifying process, and remove all gendered references in the City Charter with more neutral references respectively. 

Residents of Ocoee will also head to the polls to decide the area's Mayor. There are currently two opponents to incumbent Rusty Johnson. Chris Adkins, who hasn't held a public office before, and George Oliver III, who was the city's first Black elected candidate to win a City Commission seat. If elected, he would be Ocoee's first Black mayor, as reported by our news partner, Orlando Sentinel.

Also in Ocoee, voters will decide two City Commission seats. Hope Bellamy and Scott Kennedy are in the running for District 1, and Shante Munns hopes to unseat Richard Firstner in District 3.