Leon County Commissioner David O’Keefe, a progressive-leaning CPA who formerly served as CFO of WFSU Public Media, filed for re-election on Thursday.
“I am proud of the hard-fought progress we’ve made, and I am ready to continue pushing for a better future for everyone in our community,” said O’Keefe, who is currently in his first term on the Commission.
Challenging O’Keefe for the County Commission seat is David Hawkins, an employee of the Florida Department of Revenue. Hawkins ran unsuccessfully against current County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings in 2024 and has also sought Commission seats in 2016, 2020, and 2022.
Since being elected to the District 5 seat in 2022, O’Keefe has highlighted the policies he has championed for the community. “When I asked the residents of District 5 to let me represent them on the County Commission, I committed to transparency, accountability, new affordable rental housing, protecting our neighborhoods, and putting people first in every decision,” he said.
O’Keefe has publicly and politically aligned himself with other rising stars of the local progressive wing of the Democratic Party, including Tallahassee City Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow.
A strong advocate for gun control, O’Keefe successfully secured a majority vote to add the issue to the board’s slate of policy priorities for the upcoming 2026 Legislative Session. Gun control has weighed heavily across the nation, and particularly in Tallahassee, where in April a gunman killed two people and injured several others in a mass shooting on the FSU campus.
“I will continue to bring the needed urgency to the County Commission to deliver progress for all of Leon County,” O’Keefe said in a press release.
Election Day for the Leon County Commission District 5 seat is November 3, 2026.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/763553-leon-county-commissioner-david-okeefe-files-for-re-election/