U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, the Republican for Florida’s 4th Congressional District that covers part of Jacksonville and stretches from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine, has a new Democratic challenger lined up for 2022.
Al Robertson, a St. Johns resident, has filed to run against Rutherford as a Democrat in the 2022 general election for the 4th District congressional seat. Robertson’s biography attached to his candidacy announcement describes him as a U.S. Navy veteran of 21 years and a graduate of Troy University in Alabama.
Robertson is currently the only Democrat who has filed to run for the 4th District.
Rutherford, who served as Duval County Sheriff from 2003 to 2015, was first elected to the seat in 2016, and in his most recent election defeated Democratic challenger Donna Deegan, a former Jacksonville TV news anchor, 61.1% to 38.9%, in 2020.
Two Republicans have also filed to challenge Rutherford in the 2022 primary election: Leighna Garner-Lopez and Erick Aguilar.
Rutherford previously defeated Aguilar in the 2020 Republican primary 80.2% to 19.8%.
Federal Election Commission records list Rutherford’s campaign as having $140,504 on hand and the Aguilar campaign as having $115,804 on hand.
No cash is listed for the Garner-Lopez and Robertson campaigns as of the FEC’s most recent quarterly report.
Florida’s primary elections for congressional seats take place in August, while the general will be held in early November.
Raymon Troncoso can be reached at rtroncoso@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter at @RayTroncoso.
