County record
Leon County: who represents you
County seat Tallahassee.
Verified
Coverage on this site begins 2015. That date is a publishing decision about this archive, not a fact about the county.
All officeholder data from the Leon County Supervisor of Elections, retrieved July 27, 2026. Salaries as published. Source: Leon County Supervisor of Elections, listed on our sources and method page.
Leon County has one city.
Tallahassee is the county seat and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County.
The share living outside city limits is not verified. The figure in circulation uses an older population baseline and must be recalculated from current census estimates before it publishes as fact.
Roughly a third of Leon County residents live outside Tallahassee city limits, in unincorporated county. That means two full governments, two budgets, two commissions, and two sets of overlapping services for a single community of about 300,000 people.
On November 3, you get your first formal say on that arrangement in more than thirty years.
The consolidation question on your ballot
What is actually on the ballot
The vote count, the dissenting vote, and the exact ballot title are carried from secondary reporting. Certified minutes from the Leon County Commission must be pulled before this publishes as fact.
On March 10, 2026, the Leon County Commission voted 6 to 1 to place a nonbinding countywide advisory referendum on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. Commissioner David O'Keefe cast the dissenting vote. The ballot title adopted by the commission reads: Advisory Referendum to Pursue a County-City Consolidation Plan Under Leon County Government Structure and Leadership.
What a yes vote does, and does not do
It does not consolidate anything. This is a straw ballot. It measures sentiment.
Under Article VIII, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution, actual consolidation requires two additional steps that have not happened: a special act of the Florida Legislature creating a path for consolidation, and a subsequent voter referendum approving a specific consolidation charter. The advisory referendum triggers neither. It informs future decisions by the County Commission and nothing more.
If you vote yes thinking you are merging the governments, you are not. If you vote no thinking you are stopping it permanently, you are not.
Why this is happening now
The fire fee amount, the lawsuit status, and the $100 million police headquarters figure are all carried from secondary reporting. The court docket and the city budget documents must be pulled before these publish as fact.
The immediate trigger is a dispute between the City of Tallahassee and Leon County over the fire service fee, roughly $20 per month, with a lawsuit filed over the fee's constitutionality and how it is collected. Commissioner Bill Proctor opened the broader conversation by floating the idea of the county taking ownership of the Tallahassee Fire Department. In November 2025 the board directed staff to analyze county-city consolidation in Florida and outline the legal process. That analysis returned in December 2025, and the advisory referendum followed in March 2026. In dissent, one commissioner cited roughly $100 million in increased costs for the police headquarters project as evidence that structural questions should wait until functional coordination is maximized.
How much is already consolidated
This list must be confirmed against the December 2025 county staff report before it publishes as fact.
This is the part most coverage skips. Tallahassee and Leon County already share a substantial amount of government.
- Department of PLACE
- Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
- Office of Economic Vitality
- Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency
- Consolidated Dispatch Agency
- TLCGIS, geographic information systems
- Tallahassee Fire Department and Leon County EMS coordination
The question on the ballot is not whether these governments should work together. They already do. The question is whether to merge the two elected bodies and their separate budgets into one.
The history
The 1992 margin and the 1971, 1973, and 1976 referendum years are carried from secondary sources. Supervisor of Elections historical results must be pulled before any of these publish as fact.
Tallahassee and Leon County have examined some form of unified government at least seven times over the past fifty years.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Consolidation Study Committee recommended against pursuing it |
| 1971 | Referendum. Defeated. |
| 1973 | Referendum. Defeated. |
| 1976 | Referendum. Defeated. Campaign promoted merger as the most practical and least expensive alternative to solve the major problems facing the city and county. |
| 1981 | Effort halted before reaching the ballot |
| 1986 | Effort halted before reaching the ballot |
| 1992 | Referendum. Defeated roughly 60-40, per Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley. |
| 2026 | Nonbinding advisory referendum, November 3 |
The pattern worth knowing before you vote
The 1992 polling and the account of why support declined are not yet sourced to a primary record.
An early poll during the 1992 effort showed support for consolidation running 2 to 1 in the rural areas of the county. Support declined once the specific charter language was released and debated, and the referendum failed. Voters increasingly questioned whether consolidation would raise costs rather than lower them, weaken local representation in rural and minority communities, and shift authority away from existing elected offices. The 1970s attempts followed the same pattern: substantial business sector support, paired with voter skepticism about specific charter provisions.
The honest read: consolidation as a concept has repeatedly attracted broad interest. Consolidation as a written plan has failed every time it reached a ballot. Anyone who tells you this is simple is selling something.
Who represents you
| Seat | Incumbent | Next election |
|---|---|---|
| At Large, Group 1 | Carolyn Cummings | 2028 |
| At Large, Group 2 | Nick Maddox | 2026 |
| District 1 | Bill Proctor | 2026 |
| District 2 | Christian Caban | 2028 |
| District 3 | Rick Minor | 2026 |
| District 4 | Brian Welch | 2028 |
| District 5 | David O'Keefe | 2026 |
Seven members. Five elected by district, two at large. All Leon County voters vote for the at-large seats. Members take office the second Tuesday after the general election. Salary: $99,167.
Leon County has operated under a Home Rule Charter since November 12, 2002. Commission authority is defined in Florida Statutes, Chapter 125.
| Seat | Incumbent | Next election |
|---|---|---|
| Seat 4, Mayor | John Dailey | 2026 |
| Seat 1 | Jacqueline "Jack" Porter | 2028 |
| Seat 2 | Curtis Richardson | 2028 |
| Seat 3 | Jeremy Matlow | 2026 |
| Seat 5 | Dianne Williams-Cox | 2026 |
Five members including the mayor, all elected at large with no districts. Council-manager system: the commission appoints a city manager who runs daily operations. The mayor votes and presides but has no veto. Members take office the thirteenth day after the general election. Salary: $99,167.
| Office | Incumbent | Party | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller | Gwen Marshall | DEM | $174,818 |
| Property Appraiser | Akin Akinyemi | DEM | $174,818 |
| Sheriff | Walt McNeil | DEM | $241,384 |
| Superintendent of Schools | Rocky Hanna | DEM | $202,324 |
| Supervisor of Elections | Mark S. Earley | DEM | $174,818 |
| Tax Collector | Doris Maloy | DEM | $202,324 |
All Leon County voters vote in these races. All next up in 2028.
| District | Incumbent | Next election |
|---|---|---|
| District 1 | Alva Swafford Smith | 2026 |
| District 2 | Rosanne Wood | 2028 |
| District 3 | Darryl Jones | 2026 |
| District 4 | Laurie Lawson Cox | 2028 |
| District 5 | Marcus Bernard Nicolas | 2026 |
Elected by district. Salary: $48,174.
| Office | Incumbent | Party | Next election |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Senate, District 3 | Corey Simon | REP | 2028 |
| Florida House, District 7 | Jason Shoaf | REP | 2026 |
| Florida House, District 8 | Gallop Franklin | DEM | 2026 |
| Florida House, District 9 | Allison Tant | DEM | 2026 |
Leon County is split across three House districts and one Senate district. Salary: $29,697.
Senate District 3 covers all or part of Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, and Wakulla counties.
| Office | Incumbent | Party | Next election |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senator | Ashley Moody | REP | 2026 |
| U.S. Senator | Rick Scott | REP | 2030 |
| U.S. House, District 2 | Neal Dunn | REP | 2026 |
Offices most people do not know they vote for
Leon Soil and Water Conservation District
Five members, unpaid, elected countywide by district. Districts 1, 3, and 5 are up in 2026. These seats routinely go uncontested.
Community Development Districts
If you live in Canopy, Capital Region and Southwood, Fallschase, or Piney-Z, you elect a CDD board that levies assessments on your property. Most residents do not know these exist. Several seats are up in 2026.
Judicial seats
Leon County Judge Seat 5, held by Nina Ashenafi-Richardson, and multiple 2nd Judicial Circuit groups are up in 2026.
What is on your ballot this year
August 18 primary. November 3 general. Registration for the primary closed July 20. Registration for the general closes October 5.
Local seats up in 2026
- Mayor of Tallahassee
- Tallahassee City Commission Seats 3 and 5
- Leon County Commission At Large Group 2, and Districts 1, 3, and 5
- Leon County School Board Districts 1, 3, and 5
- Three of four state legislative seats
- U.S. Senate and U.S. House District 2
- Governor and full Cabinet
- Soil and Water Conservation District Districts 1, 3, and 5
- Multiple judicial seats
Statewide ballot questions
- HJR 1F, the property tax homestead exemption amendment, which requires 60% to pass
Countywide ballot questions
- Consolidation advisory referendum, nonbinding
Check your sample ballot by address, and see campaign finance filings for the candidates on it.
Held for sourcing
This page will include an accountability section. It is not live yet because we will not publish allegations we have not documented.
Our sourcing standard for that section:
- Florida Commission on Ethics complaint dispositions, a public record
- City of Tallahassee and Leon County internal auditor reports
- Court dockets, including the pending fire service fee litigation
- Certified meeting minutes and recorded votes
- Campaign finance filings via the Supervisor of Elections
- Federal and state court records where applicable
We will distinguish precisely between charged, convicted, acquitted, dismissed, and never charged. Those distinctions are not decoration. Getting them wrong is how a site like this loses the right to be believed.
Timing. The primary is August 18. We are holding this section until after the November 3 general election.
Verification checklist
Confirmed at primary source
- Full officeholder roster, terms, salaries, and next elections, from leonvotes.gov, July 27, 2026
- Tallahassee as the only incorporated municipality in Leon County
- County Commission structure: seven members, five by district, two at large, home rule charter November 12, 2002
- City Commission structure: five at large, council-manager, mayor has no veto
- Article VIII, Section 3 consolidation mechanism
- 2026 election dates and deadlines
Confirmed at secondary source only, held from publication as fact
- March 10, 2026 commission vote, 6 to 1, and the exact ballot title. Pull certified minutes from the Leon County Commission.
- 1992 referendum margin of roughly 60-40. Pull from Supervisor of Elections historical results.
- Referendum years 1971, 1973, and 1976. Confirm via the Supervisor of Elections archive.
- Fire service fee amount and lawsuit status. Pull the court docket.
- The $100 million police headquarters figure. Pull from city budget documents or the commissioner's statement on the record.
- The share of residents living outside city limits. Recalculate from current census estimates; the figure in circulation uses an older population baseline.
- Functional consolidation entity list. Confirm against the December 2025 county staff report.
Sources
- Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Leon County Supervisor of Elections, elected officials
Corrections
We publish our sources. When we are wrong, we correct it here and say what changed. If you find an error on this page, tell us and we will fix it.