Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jayer Williamson, the scion of a family with deep roots in local politics, announced on Thursday that he will not run for a second term and will make a second bid for the Florida House.
Williamson ran for the House in 2012, challenging then-freshman Rep. Doug Broxson, R-Milton, in the Republican primary. While Broxson prevailed,Williamson took more than 40 percent of the vote. Broxson faces term limits in 2018 for the seat which includes all of Santa Rosa County and the northern half of Okaloosa County.
The new candidate announced his political plans on Thursday night in an email.
“After many discussions with family and friends and a whole lot of prayer, I have decided to not seek reelection for my county commission seat in 2016,” Williamson announced. Instead, I have filed paperwork to run for the Florida House in 2018. This will be an open seat at that time.
“Without a doubt, being your commissioner has been one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. To be honest, I absolutely love it and I know after November 2016 I will miss the daily interaction with citizens and county staff,” Williamson added. “This may be a surprise to many of you, but it became clear to me the decision I felt most comfortable with is to fulfill my term as commissioner through November 2016, not seek reelection and focus my time and energy to do everything I can to be elected as the next state representative for District 3. I also felt it was best to let this decision be known as soon as possible so the citizens of Santa Rosa County and district one can go through a full election cycle to fully vet our next commissioner.”
Williamson has deep political roots in the area. His father Jim Williamson served on the Santa Rosa County Commission until his death last year and on the Milton City Council before that and his son was appointed to--and later was elected--to his seat. Williamson’s grandfather -- W.L. Butler -- served on the Santa Rosa County Commission back in the 1970s.
So far, no other candidates have filed for the race.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
