On August 26, Citrus County voters will decide who will move on in several races around the county. The biggest of which is the race for county commission seats.
In Commission District 2, incumbent John Kenney will face quite a bit of competition in the primary. Kenney will face-off against Renee Christopher-McPheeters, Ronald Kitchen Jr., and Phillip Mulrain.
Kenney is the current chairman of the commission. He was first elected to commission back in 2010. If reelected, Kenney hopes to focus more on the budget, add jobs to the county, and promote stability in senior staff.
Christopher-McPheeters and Kitchen both lost in the District 1 race to incumbent Dennis Damato in 2012.
Both candidates now have home addresses in District 2, comprised of the Homosassa-Sugarmill Woods area.
Christopher-McPheeters said in a candidate questionnaire that her priorities are to add more government civility, accountability and transparency to the district. She believes there is a need for economic growth and more communication.
Kitchen and Mulrain both want to see the county spend more responsibly.
There is also a commission race for District 4 where Scott Carnahan will face former commissioner Winn Webb.
Carnahan and Webb are both running as Republicans so whoever wins the primary, will win the seat.
Carnahan has a strong business and agriculture background. He stands for frugal spending and accountability, professional leadership, and limited government.
Webb is a former business owner and commissioner who gave up his seat in 2012 for an unsuccessful run for sheriff. He wants to keep taxes low and stable, approve the attractiveness of the county for businesses and economic development, and bring jobs to the county.
Both candidates are lifelong residents of Citrus County.
Voters will also be selecting four members of the Citrus County School Board. In District 1, incumbent Thomas Kennedy faces Thomas Corkery and H. Dean Morrison.
Kennedy says he wants to continue to focus on making the curriculum and standards relevant to the world students will enter.
Corkery hopes to reduce the percentage of students who do not graduate, while Morrison wants to look for solutions to the board’s current financial issues.
In District 3, Doug Dodd faces Quinton Herrin Jr. and Sheila Whitelaw.
Dodd says his top priority is to make sure that the schools are academically successful. Herrin Jr., the husband to a high school teacher, says his platform is to get the school board to be more proactive, educate don't indoctrinate, and to let teachers teach. Whitelaw says she wants to restore a common sense approach to all the issues the district faces. This approach would include empowering teachers.
In District 4, incumbent Sandy Balfour faces Beverly Howard.
If reelected, Balfour wants to make sure all students graduate with employability skills, while Howard hopes to create a more supportive community by expanding the relationship with parents, guardians and community groups.
In District 5, incumbent Linda Powers faces Donna Fletcher.
Fletcher hopes to improve attendance with student accountability while Powers, if reelected, wants to accomplish excellence in education through academics, career preparation and interpersonal communication.