Rep. Jay Fant (R-Jacksonville) has attracted a challenge from write-in candidate Timothy Glidden.
Glidden describes himself as a pro-life conservative who believes strongly in religious freedom.
He's lived in Jacksonville for the past 28 years and is a father of four.
Glidden says he’s been interested in politics since watching the Nixon re-election at 6 years old. He has volunteered on local campaigns and was the previous president of the Republican Club of West Jacksonville.
“I’ve been interested in politics since I was young, and I was very active for about 15 years,” Glidden said. “I wanted to give the people in District 15 a chance to vote either for or against our current representative.”
Write-in candidates do not appear on ballots, but they must register with the state for write-ins to count.
Qualification requirements for write-in candidates are almost identical to those of ballot candidates: They must be residents of the district and must submit either party-affiliated or non-party-affiliated qualifying papers to the Florida Department of State Division of Elections. They are not required, however, to pay a qualifying fee or submit petition papers.
District 15 covers Jacksonville’s lower Westside, representing roughly 156,000 citizens.
In 2014, Fant defeated Paul Renner in the Republican primary election by just two votes.
Glidden says if elected he’ll work toward shrinking the state government, but, when pressed, he didn’t specify which areas he’d like to cut.
Glidden has not raised any money, according to the state Divsion of Elections. Meanwhile, Fant has raised nearly $76,000 for his reelection campaign.
The District 15 election will be settled in the August 30th primary.
