OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The City of Ocala will hold a special election on Tuesday Sept. 16, to fill the mayoral seat, as well the city council seats for Districts no. 1, 3 and 5.
Mayor Ben Marciano had issued a proclamation on April 15, for the general election to be held Sept. 16, for the previously mentioned offices. The qualification period for the election was last week, July 7 through July 11.
The Ocala City Council will vote on the Special Election, this afternoon, July 15, 2025, at their 4 p.m. meeting.
Ocala city councilman Jay Musleh, who represents District no. 3, and was not going to seek reelection, will be reentering the race for the seat he has served in for the past 13 years.
“I was having dinner with my wife Friday night (July 11), and we commented that the qualifying period has come and gone,” said Musleh. “She asked me how I felt, and I said, ‘I’m at peace.’ And then, about two hours later I get a call from the city attorney that there was a mess up, and as it unfolded over the weekend, I had asked other people about what they thought about me getting into a special election, if there was going to be one, and the results were very encouraging. When they had to nullify all the candidates who were trying to qualify, I decided that I was going to run in a special election.”
After a review by the City of Ocala’s attorney and clerk, in consultation with the Marion County Supervisor of Elections, they determined that none of the candidates who had turned in their paperwork had complied with requirement of Florida law, as it pertains to the payment of their qualifying fee.
“A candidate not (initially) completing the qualifying documents accurately, does happen quite often,” said Wesley Wilcox, Marion County supervisor of elections. “Fortunately, most of the issues are identified and resolved prior to the end of the qualifying period, which allows the candidate to correct the deficiencies.
“I am unaware of any instance where this many deficiencies were discovered after the qualifying period has ended.”
Florida Statutes requires candidates to pay the qualifying fee for using a properly executed check from their campaign account, and those checks should include the campaign account name, account number, bank name, exact amount, treasurer’s signature, the purpose of the expenditure and the payee’s name.
Zackary “Arbor” Feliciano threw his hat into the ring to challenge incumbent City of Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano.
“I’m still in the running despite the setback,” said Feliciano. “I thank everyone for their support throughout the qualifying process and hope to qualify this Friday.”
Councilmen Jim Hilty Sr. District no. 5 and Barry Mansfield District no. 1, appeared to be running unopposed, but that may change now with the special election on Sept. 16, as others still have a chance to qualify this Friday.
“That was the original date for the election,” said Hilty Sr. “In order to meet that guideline, without the city having to pay anything additional because they’re already contracted with the supervisor of elections for that date (Sept. 16), the supervisor or elections has to have the information by Monday July 21, so he can get ballots printed and mailed to people overseas, and all the other challenges to make sure that all the early voting is out. So, there’s a very specific deadline that has to happen.”
All seven of the candidates failed to meet the requirement. The mayor proclaimed a special election to be held Sept 16, the date of the original election, on July 14.