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VOLUME 5 ISSUE 34
AUGUST 23 - AUGUST 29, 2024
Campbell wins reelection to Marion County School Board
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Following the primary election, here’s what is next for the state House races Photos By Bruce Ackerman Ocala Gazette
Left: From left, Marion County Supervisor of Elections Wesley Wilcox and Cristi Cerra, candidate services representative for the supervisor’s office, watch results with Election Canvassing Board members Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant and Judge Robert Landt at the Marion County Election Center in Ocala on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Below: Ballots are delivered from voting polls as 2024 Primary Election results come in.
Allison B Campbell
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
A
llison Campbell has been reelected to represent District 1 on the Marion County School Board after defeating challenger Beth McCall. Campbell received 29,836 votes, while McCall received 26,770. Campbell has served on the school board since she was first elected in 2020. See Campbell, page A2
Staff report
M Marion County will get new circuit judge
arion County is divided among five Florida House Districts: 20, 21, 23, 24, and 27, and two of those districts had candidates on the Aug. 20 primary ballots. District 27 was the most crowded and contentious
primary race. Richard Gentry will next face Dennis M. Simpson Jr. (LPF) and Andy Ferrari (DEM) in the November general election. See related story in this edition. Judson Sapp won District 20 against Jamie Watts, 14,917 votes to 8,070. Sapp will face Democrat Tony Connelly in the November election. District 20
encompasses portions of Clay, Marion, Putnam and St. Johns counties. Incumbent, Yvonne Hayes Hinson (DEM) did not draw an opponent for District 21, so she will enter a third term. This district includes parts of Alachua and Marion counties. For Florida House District 24, incumbent Ryan Chamberlin, (REP), did not draw a primary opponent,
and he will face newcomer Democrat Robert Shaw in the general election. This district includes part of Marion County. For Florida House District 23, all registered voters in this district will choose between Republican JJ Grow or Democrat Judith Vowels. This district includes Citrus and part of Marion counties.
Community members, neighbors respond following jury trial Susan Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Ajike “AJ” Owens. The sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 6. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
Barbara Kissner Kwatkosky
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
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arion County resident, Barbara Kissner Kwatkosky defeated Ben Boylston for Group 20 Circuit Judge seat 105,690 votes to 97,737. Her term will begin Jan. 1 upon the retirement of Judge Gary Sanders at the end of the year. The judicial race was nonpartisan and all voters in the 5th judicial circuit had the choice on their ballot. See Circuit, page A7
T
he guilty verdict on Aug. 16 in the shooting death of 35-year-old mother of four Ajike “AJ” Owens in southwest Marion County by then 58-year-old Susan Lorincz took less than two hours of jury deliberations but capped 14 months of emotionally charged discussion about the case. Although four additional charges were dropped or not pursued, Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the jury trial. The case included an admission by Lorincz, who is white, that she used a racial slur against the children of the victim,
who was Black. Lorincz first invoked the Florida statute known as the “stand your ground” law, or self-defense, in the shooting. The statute states that a person has “no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground” and can use “deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” Owens was shot June 2, 2023, at 9 p.m. through Lorincz’s front door, which Lorincz stated she had locked, following a confrontation tied to a dispute that had been going on for about two years. The dispute centered on Lorincz’s claims that children, See Guilty, page A4
Pamela Dias, the mother of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, center, becomes emotional as she sits with family attorney, Anthony Thomas, left, as Susan Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala on Friday, August 16, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
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