Headlines on PNJ.com: This is the news from Wednesday, August 21
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To virtually no surprise, Santa Rosa District 5 County Commissioner Colten Wright faced little opposition in Tuesday’s Republican primary, and with only opposition from uncommitted candidates standing in his way in November, he appears set to serve another four years on the board.
Wright’s opponent in the first round was Michael Priest, a former Escambia County sheriff’s deputy whose candidacy received $1,000 in campaign funding from the America First Alliance political action committee, which is run by the grandmother of James Calkins, the Third District commissioner with whom Wright is openly at odds.
Wright received 56.57% of the vote, or 14,803 votes, according to unofficial results announced Tuesday night in all 41 Santa Rosa County precincts. Priest received 43.43% of the vote, or 11,364 votes.
Escambia, Santa Rosa Elementary School: Live election results
When contacted Tuesday morning, Priest sounded defiant, even though he was aware of the inevitability of the outcome.
“This was my first time, but it won’t be my last, no matter what the outcome,” he said. “I’m just learning how to do it. I tried. I gave it everything I could give.”
Wright cited a long list of accomplishments during the campaign, citing his pragmatic, common-sense approach to governance that proved to be an asset to the Board of County Commissioners during his first four years in office. He successfully served as commission chair in 2022-23 after being nominated to the seat, replacing Calkins, who was seen as an heir apparent due to his service as vice chair the previous year.
Wright, a small business owner in the community since 2003, told voters that public safety should be the county commission’s top priority and that the commission should focus on roads, stormwater management infrastructure, recreational opportunities and economic development in fast-growing Santa Rosa County.
Wright enters his second term and foresees a better planned future from the county’s perspective, now that a documented capital improvement plan has been created and projects are being planned and budgeted. He said a goal for the future is to begin work on a comprehensive and strategic master plan to protect and preserve the county’s valuable agricultural assets while maintaining responsible growth.
Wright supports both imposing “reasonable” development fees on developers to reduce the costs their construction projects impose on the county’s infrastructure and doubling the existing half-cent sales tax to help finance transportation projects.
It was he who suggested linking the two proposals in a referendum in November to decide whether both or neither should be implemented as sources of revenue.
In November, Wright will face token opposition from two candidates, Ronald Martonick and Evan Turner, who qualified as at-large candidates. Neither of their names will appear on the ballot.
Both men fit the description of “ghost candidates,” which is given to those eligible to run in Florida to prevent members of the opposition party from entering the primary. In this case, the goal was to block the Republican primary to exclude Democrats and independents from voting.
Neither Martonick nor Turner has raised or spent money, and neither has appeared in public to meet with voters and discuss issues.
Priest, whose home address is listed in documents from the U.S. Election Commission as an apartment complex owned by James and Mariya Calkins, also did not actively campaign.
Priest is a former Escambia County deputy who was fired in 2011 after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his patrol car after driving her home from a bar. He was acquitted of the charges, but his police license was revoked. Priest was fired for moral violators, including sexual misconduct while on duty in uniform in his patrol car.
A year later, in March 2012, Priest was charged with assault at Captain Fun’s Beach Club on Pensacola Beach after he used a sneaky punch to knock a man who was being thrown out of the bar to the ground. Priest was also charged with trespassing and warned that he would never be allowed to return.
Priest spent part of his $8,000 campaign donations on creating a website. He described himself as “pro-God, pro-family and pro-Trump,” ran on a platform of accountability and transparency in local government, and espoused a “people-first philosophy.”
The website highlighted his background in law enforcement and claimed he knew the importance of safety and community.
“I am committed to serving our community with integrity, transparency and a deep commitment to the issues that matter most to all of us,” the website states.
