Special Election to take place for Lynn Haven Commission seat four

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Municipal Super Tuesday Election is set to take place on April 18th, 2023. A part of that election includes two commissioner seats and a Mayor for the City of Lynn Haven.

Now that ballot will have another item added to the ballot, a special election due to Commissioner Judy Tinder resigning on Tuesday.

“That special election will be at the same timeline that we are doing the Mayor’s race and the other seats that are normally open. So seat 4 will be on the ballot as a special election but it will all be on the very same ballot that all of the other candidates are on,” Bay County Supervisor of Elections, Mark Andersen said.

The reason it is being called a Special Election is that the person who is elected for Commission Seat 4 will serve out the remaining two years of the commissioner that resigned.

“Normally it is a four-year term but because of the resignation, we are now in this timeline that they would only serve the normal timeline of that seat. You got the following term in April of 2025 which would be that seat and it would go again,” Andersen said.

Commissioner Tinder resigned on Tuesday from her seat but filed to run for Mayor of Lynn Haven on Wednesday. Tinder will be facing incumbent Mayor Jesse Nelson, who won the special election for the position two years ago.

The third candidate for the mayoral race has withdrawn and sent NewsChannel 7 the following statement,

“The City of Lynn Haven needs powerful leaders, ready and willing to take charge with action, not division. For this reason, I have chosen to support Judy Tinder as she runs for mayor of the city of Lynn Haven. As commissioner, I believe my time and resources can be best devoted to the people, under Judy’s leadership. We look forward to being a united force for this community. We hope that voters choose the same,” Ellyen Fields, candidate for commission seat four said.

The City of Lynn Haven will be holding a special commission meeting on Friday at 9 a.m. regarding the vacancy for commission seat 4.

Anyone interested in filing for candidacy for the April election must go to the Bay County Supervisor of Elections Office by noon on February 10.

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