District 4 Special Election

With the resignation of Representative Ray Sansom on Sunday, February 21st, District 4 was left without a member in the State Legislature for the session that began March 2nd and runs through April. Governor Crist announced a special general election to be held on April 13th. Matt Gaetz of Niceville is the Republican candidate, and Jan Fernald of Navarre is the Democractic candidate. Below are brief biographies and links to their campaign websites. To learn more, read this Daily News article and this editorial on the race.

Candidates

Matt Gaetz	Jan Fernald
Matt Gaetz is a county native and practicing attorney. He was ranked one of the top debaters in the country while at Niceville HS, and achieved national and international honors at FSU, where he earned his degree. Matt was a legislative intern in the Florida House, and later earned his law degree at the College of William and Mary. He led a successful campaign to convince the Fort Walton Beach City Council to reverse a property tax increase, and was recently honored by the Walton County Taxpayers Association. He also served as chief litigator to bring the F-35 to Eglin AFB, and is a founder of a mentoring program at Pryor Middle School through which young professionals volunteer weekly to help students succeed academically. He is a board member of the Emerald Coast Marine Institute, and is active in a number of community organizations, including the Twin Cities, Destin, FWB and Navarre Chambers of Commerce.	Jan Evans Fernald arrived in Florida from California at age 8. She has lived in the panhandle for 40 years, 28 of them in District 4. She is a graduate of Gulf Breeze High School and the University of West Florida, and is currently enrolled in a Project Management Certification course at UWF. A 12-year Air Force Veteran, Jan has worked for over 10 years in the defense industry and continues to work for a major defense contractor in Okaloosa County as a Project Lead for the CV-22 Osprey Obsolescence Management Program. She is actively involved in her community. She currently serves as a Board Member, Deep South Dressage and Combined Training Association (Emerald Coast Chapter); works part-time as a Dressage Show Manager; and volunteers at Habitat for Humanity of Okaloosa County. She is a Licensed Technical Delegate for the U.S. Equestrian Federation. Jan is married to Steve Fernald, a retired Air Force Senior NCO. They have two adult children, Megan Fernald Hedaria and Tamara Fernald.
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