MELBOURNE, Fla. – Two of Brevard County’s top officials were reelected for a new term in office this week after the write-in candidates they were facing in the November election withdrew their candidacies.
Elections Supervisor Tim Bobanic, a Republican who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, won his August party primary against outgoing Commissioner John Tobia, 59.62% to 40.38%. The primary was one of News 6′s key races to watch.
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Bobanic was set to face write-in candidate Sandra Cottrell in November, but she dropped out of the supervisor of elections race so Bobanic now won reelection.
Likewise, Brevard County Tax Collector Lisa Cullen won reelection after the write-in candidate in her race, Daniel Edwin Lopez, also withdrew.
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Cullen faced a Republican primary challenge from outgoing County Commissioner Rita Pritchett in August. Cullen beat Pritchett 84.8% to 15.9%. There were no other candidates in the race.
Since the ballots for November were still being finalized, both races will be removed ahead of the general election, according to Bobanic’s office.
Florida is a closed primary state, which means only Republicans could vote in those two primaries. If the only candidates to qualify in a race come from the same political party, then the primary is opened to all registered voters.
However, if there is an official write-in candidate, that closes the party primary to all but party members under state law, under state law. Write-in candidates must file and qualify to run and don’t have to pay qualifying fees. However, their names also do not appear on the ballot. Instead, voters must accurately write the candidate’s name on the ballot for the vote to count.
A report by Florida Today says Lopez and Cottrell appeared to be so-called “ghost candidates,” who filed to run solely to close the primaries. Neither candidate raised money for their campaigns, according to county records.
Being a “ghost candidate” is not illegal in Florida, but the practice has been growing in elections across the state and led to concerns about election manipulation.
For instance, last year a write-in candidate for a special election for a Florida House race in Marion County claimed he was approached to run as a write-in candidate to close the Republican primary.
Robert Fox says he was approached by a campaign consultant to close the Republican party primary for the Florida House District 24 race as a favor to the party. Once Fox said once he realized he was being used as a puppet, he chose to run an active campaign against the eventual primary winner, Ryan Chamberlin.
Chamberlin won the special election and is now running for reelection.
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