Jacob Ogles
The Secretary of State set the field for a Special Election to determine who succeeds outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine in Senate District 19, with some of Fine’s former nemeses drawn into the battle. But qualification didn’t pass by without some high-stakes ramifications as term limits enforcement appeared to reshape the field.
The biggest shock came as the Department of State disqualified state rep. Debbie Mayfield, a Melbourne Republican who previously held the Senate seat until November last year. She had announced her candidacy in November and already resigned the House District 32 seat she won last year. She could not run for another Senate term in 2024 due to term limits, but many Republican consultants believe that only applies to consecutive years of service.
A big surprise on Tuesday came with the late entry of former Melbourne City Council member Tim Thomas, who filed last year to challenge Fine for the Senate seat but did not make the ballot. Thomas in June told Florida Today he had opted against a run after a conversation with Senate leadership, though the Division of Elections website showed he did not qualify.
Thomas said Brevard deserved a candidate with a strong record of public service on the ballot.
“I just felt that with my experience as a local politician here serving two terms on the Melbourne City Council, as well as time in community in ROTC, with veterans, felt we needed someone with that background,” he told Florida Politics. “It’s been a long time since Brevard County have a veteran serve at the state level.”
Thomas last year was widely seen as a candidate favored by Gov. Ron DeSantis over Fine, who publicly criticized the Governor and changed his presidential endorsement from DeSantis to Donald Trump. Thomas filed for the seat hours before the noon qualification deadline. Mayfield also notably changed her endorsement from DeSantis to Trump in late 2023, who in turn endorsed Mayfield for House.
Thomas had been expected to file in House District 32, Mayfield’s House seat, but switched his candidacy to Senate Wednesday morning amid talk of whether Mayfield can run because of term limits, talk that proved to be fruitful as Mayfield god booted from the race. Importantly, the deadline for a Special Election to replace Mayfield in the House District she left doesn’t come until noon on Wednesday, which still leaves the opportunity for Senate candidates living in that district to shift to that race instead, including possibly Mayfield.
Thomas wasn’t the only late entry into the SD 19 contest.
Marcie Adkins, who challenged Fine for his House seat in 2020, also jumped into the Republican Primary the morning of qualification. The Grant Valkaria Republican engaged in a vicious Primary against a then-incumbent House member that included accusations of anti-Semitism on the part of Adkins. She also ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for Brevard County Republican Committeewoman.
“Serving Brevard in the Senate is a dream I remember conceiving approximately 35 years ago,” Adkins said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “In 1990, I worked as the Economist for Florida’s 1990 Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. This was my first professional job after completing the PhD program. My office was in the Holland Building, directly across the street from the Capitol. I remember sitting in the Senate Gallery thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be awesome serving Brevard as its Senator one day.'”
On Monday, Mark Lightner III, a University of North Florida business graduate and Brevard County native, also filed for the seat. He promised in campaign videos to engage more young conservatives in the process.
“I’m from this community, I love this community, and I knew that when it came time to start a career and raise a family, this is where I wanted to be,” he said in the video. “… This kind of sounds strange but I was inspired by how many people how many politicians used the platform in a negative way and those those who lacked Integrity those who lacked morals those who didn’t really lift up and edify their community like they were supposed to and like they were elected to do.”
Democrat Vance Ahrens, who Fine defeated for the seat in November, has also filed again for the seat. Ahrens, if elected, would be the first transgender member of the Florida Legislature. She won the Democratic nomination in the Special Election without opposition.
Adkins, Lightner and Thomas will face off in a Republican Primary on April 1. The winner advances to the June 10 Special General Election against Ahrens.
In addition to disqualifying Mayfield, the Department of State also disqualified Gabriel Goddard, executive director of the Space Walk of Fame Foundation, who filed for the seat as a Republican. He previously ran for Congress in Florida’s 8th Congressional District as a Democrat. He serves on the National Space Society’s board of directors. This election, he submitted a check to qualify received by the state one minute before the qualification deadline.
The seat opened when Fine resigned to run for Congress. Fine won a Republican Primary in Florida’s 6th Congressional District on Jan. 28, and faces Democrat Josh Weil in an April 1 Special Election.
