Seats up for election for special districts on islands
The candidate qualifying period is set to open for multiple seats for the islands’ special districts.
Qualifying for the Nov. 3 general election will open on June 8 at noon and will run through June 12 at noon, according to Lee County Elections. Candidates could begin to prequalify starting on May 25.
The following seats are up for election on Sanibel and Captiva:
CAPTIVA EROSION PREVENTION DISTRICT
– Seats 1 and 3: Four-year terms (2026-30)
CAPTIVA ISLAND FIRE CONTROL DISTRICT
– Seat 3: Four-year term (2026-30)
SANIBEL FIRE AND RESCUE DISTRICT
– Seats 1 and 2: Four-year terms (2026-30)
SANIBEL PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
– Seats 1, 2, 3 and 5: Four-year terms (2026-30)
– Seats 6 and 7: Two-year terms (2026-28)
As of May 29, the following races had candidates that had prequalified:
– Sanibel Fire and Rescue District, Seat 1: Richard McCurry (incumbent)
– Sanibel Fire and Rescue District, Seat 2: Bruce Cochrane (incumbent)
All independent special district offices are nonpartisan and only appear in the general election.
If only one candidate qualifies for a seat, he or she is elected unopposed.
Lee County Elections reported that all qualifying activities take place at the Lee County Elections Main Office in the Melvin Morgan Constitutional Complex, at 2480 Thompson St., Third Floor, Fort Myers.
Candidate qualifying packets are available at lee.vote/179/Candidates.
In addition, the following Lee County seats are up election for voters on the islands:
COUNTY COMMISSION
– Districts 2 and 4: Four-year terms (2026-30)
– District 5: Two-year term (2026-28)
SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
Two-year term (2026-28)
SCHOOL BOARD
– Districts 1 and 6: Four-year terms (2026-30)
State races will include: governor; attorney general; chief financial officer; commissioner of agriculture; public defender, 20th Judicial Circuit; state attorney; and House of Representatives, District 80.
Federal races will include: Senate; and Representatives in Congress, District 19.
Florida is a closed primary election state. As such, voters not registered as members of a political party may not get to vote for respective party candidates or nominees for an office in a primary election.
The primary election is Aug. 18.
For more information, visit https://www.lee.vote/.
To reach TIFFANY REPECKI / trepecki@breezenewspapers.com, please email