Special elections have been called in two congressional districts across 10 Florida counties. So along with sales flyers and late-arriving Christmas cards, citizens who requested them will be reaching into their mailboxes this week and pulling out vote-by-mail ballots.
The primaries in Florida’s 1st and 6th districts will be Jan. 28, with the general election on April 1.
Six running in Florida’s 6th primaries
The Volusia County supervisor of elections, Lisa Lewis, announced on Facebook Monday her office had mailed 9,000 ballots for the 6th District Republican and Democratic primaries. That race – to replace Michael Waltz, whose resignation takes effect on Jan. 20 when he becomes President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser – involves nine candidates, six of whom will be on the Jan. 28 primary ballots.
Voters in Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam, Marion and Lake counties will also be voting in the 6th.
Three Republicans are vying for support in the GOP primary: Randy Fine, Aaron Baker and Ehsan Joarder.
Another three candidates will be on the Democratic primary ballot: Purvi Bandiwala, Ges Selmont and Josh Weil.
Three others running in the 6th will await the April 1 general election: Libertarian Andrew Parrott, no-party affiliation hopeful Randall Terry and Chuck Sheridan, a write-in candidate.
Florida 1st race to replace Matt Gaetz
In Escambia County, one of four to comprise Florida’s 1st Congressional District, ballots were mailed to Republican primary voters on Friday.
With just one candidate – Gay Valimont – qualifying, there will be no Democratic primary in the 1st, which also includes Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and part of Walton counties.
There are 10 Republicans in the hunt: Aaron Dimmock, Kevin Gaffney, Jeff Macey, Greg Merk, John Mills, Jimmy Patronis, Jeff Peacock, Joel Rudman, Michael Dylan Thompson and Gene Valentino.
Also qualifying for the April 1 ballot are: Stephen Broden (NPA) and write-ins Richard Dembinsky, Stanley Gray, Jonathan Green and Stan McDaniels.
How to vote, get a mail ballot
The deadline to register for the Jan. 28 primary in both the 1st and 6th districts is Monday, Dec. 30.
Voters who want to vote by mail must request their ballots from their county’s Supervisor of Elections Office by Jan. 16.
Early voting will be from Jan. 18-25
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Vote-by-mail begins in Florida special election primaries for Congress