Alford, Prizzia win reelection to Alachua County Commission
Alachua County voters in districts 1 and 3 selected incumbents Mary Alford and Anna Prizzia to continue representing them on the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in the first single-member district race since switching systems in 2022 .
With the results, the BOCC will keep the same five-member composition that has been mostly in place since the 2020 election. Commission Chuck Chestnut earned another term after no one filed to run against him in District 5.
In District 1, which includes Archer, southern Alachua County and southern Gainesville, Alford grabbed a commanding 63.6% of the vote compared with Lizabeth Doebler's 36.4%.
In District 3, including parts of west Gainesville and territory south of Newberry Road, Prizzia garnered 56.6% of the vote compared with Jenn Garrett's 45.3%.
Alachua County reported 84% voter turnout. The District 1 race had 20,491 voters, while the District 3 race had 25,626 voters.
Prizzia and Alford, both Democrats, ran in 2020, but at that time the entire county voted for each member, instead of only residents living in the individual districts.
Prizzia highlighted another difference: campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the two campaigns were completely different as she was able to knock on doors and attend in-person events this year.
"I love my job so much, and getting to serve the community has been one of the greatest rewards of my whole life," Prizzia said.
She said she's excited to continue the work she started for another four years, especially on issues regarding sustainability, natural resources and the local economy. On the campaign trail, she said residents brought up roads and parks as issues in her district.
Republican challenger Garrett lost by 2,366 votes, and before the finalized results, she said she enjoyed the campaigning and getting to know the district, its leaders and the issues that matter to them.
"They really want everyone to be successful here," Garrett said. "So, although our community is very divided politically, everyone wants the best for everyone, and that's encouraging to hear."
She said major issues included roads and community safety.
Alford won handily over Republican Doebler, piling up a winning margin of more than 5,000 votes, but she said the race was tougher to deal with emotionally because of messaging sent by opposing PACs.
"It was harder for me to deal with that personally," Alford said after the race had been decided. "I was born and raised in Alachua County. I hate to think people in Alachua County are not nice, but there were some not nice things that happened and that was hard."
Alford said she looked forward to addressing climate vulnerability and childcare. She also highlighted housing.
"I already knew that housing was in a crisis, but this campaign made it very clear how much of a crisis," Alford said. "We really need to work on housing."
