Red state bid to upend region's political balance hits major court snag

In a split from earlier rulings, Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals on Wednesday turned down a bid by Republicans to alter how county commissioners are elected in Alachua County — a move that would have significantly shifted the region’s political balance.

PBS affiliate WUFT TV reported that the challengers, including former state Senator Keith Perry (R) and three co‑plaintiffs, had asked the court to block the county from electing its five commissioners through a so-called at‑large system, in which every voter in the county votes for all commissioners. The appeal supported maintaining or restoring single‑member districts, where only voters in a given district cast ballots for their respective commissioner.

Because of Wednesday’s decision, unless the Florida Supreme Court steps in, next year’s commission elections in Alachua will proceed under the existing system — a model in which Democrats have long held sway.

Ken Cornell, vice chair of the county commission and a Democrat, told reporters, per the report, that the ruling helps safeguard citizens from fragmented representation.

He argued that under district systems, “they had no representation, because they couldn’t go to another commissioner because they weren’t represented by another commissioner.”

He added that district elections tend to narrow the scope of issues commissioners focus on, turning governance into horse‑trading over countywide priorities.

The report highlighted that the legal battle traces back to a 2022 state law mandating district elections in Alachua County, backed by then‑Rep. Chuck Clemons and Perry, which passed narrowly by voter referendum.

The law required that commissioners be elected by voters in each district rather than countywide.

In 2024, voters overwhelmingly approved a switch back to at‑large elections by more than 70 percent. But opponents sued, claiming the ballot description was illegal.

A circuit court judge agreed, finding that the ballot language failed to conform to statutory requirements; nonetheless he allowed the election to proceed.

Republican plaintiffs argued that the at‑large system makes it nearly impossible for GOP candidates to win in the county

Perry testified that “we’ve had two Republicans elected to the county commission since Reconstruction,” both serving only one term, and said the dominance of Democratic and student voters in Gainesville further obstructs Republican prospects.

He also claimed that at-large elections diluted Black voters’ influence in the city — asserting that those voters say the system disenfranchises them.

The three judges on the panel — Joseph Lewis, Stephanie Ray and Adam Tanenbaum — were respectively appointees of Republican Governors Jeb Bush, Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis.

To date, all five county commissioners are Democrats. The last Republican to serve, Sue Baird, left office in 2014.

Alachua County remains one of the few solidly Democratic strongholds in Florida — it was among just six Florida counties to vote against President Donald Trump in 2024.