Escambia County politics have had weird turns over the years. The 2024 election cycle is no different.
On Friday, June 14, a Republican filed to qualify to run for the Escambia County District 3 commission seat but he failed to qualify because he didn’t present the correct forms and a check drawn on his campaign account and signed by his campaign treasurer.
The disqualification meant the three-term incumbent, Lumon May, won a fourth term without opposition, making May the only elected Black Democrat in the northwest corner of the state.
The Republican, John R. Johnson, blamed a rigged system that favors incumbents and the wealthy. His interview led to an antisemitic rant that runs counter to many Escambia County Republicans’ beliefs.
Johnson had prefiled to run as a Republican in March 2023. In his previous races dating back to the 1980s, he ran as a No Party Affiliate or in non-partisan races. Through May 31, Johnson’s campaign finance reports show that had received $850 in monetary contributions. Gregory Peterson gave him $200, Johnson contributed $150, and Larry Downs wrote him a check for $500.
Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender said his office was in contact with Johnson at least 10 times on June 13 and June 14.
He said, “He came in at 11:49 (on Friday, June 14). At 11:57, we’re still filling out paperwork and things like that. And so, we get the work at noon and then we perform a secondary search of review of all the paperwork that’s been turned in.”
The election supervisor said he accepts all paperwork that has been completed if a candidate is in line to qualify. “You wouldn’t be able to sit there and continue to fill out paperwork or anything like that. But if you were in the door at noon, we would have taken whatever papers you had.”
The problems with Johnson’s paperwork popped up in Bender’s secondary review.
“I performed the secondary review and realized that the state ethics form was not the correct form. He had returned to Form 1 instead of Form Six, which is more invasive. You have to list amounts,” Bender said. “This is not a form that is given out by the office. The candidate goes online to the commission on the ethics website and completes the form.”
He continued, “The form is auto-populated based on the position that you are seeking. And so the wrong position was selected. I stopped my review at that point to address the issue and talked to the Commission on Ethics and talked to the candidate. And so, the Commission on Ethics is looking into the phone call to see if they provided any bad guidance. But again, had the correct position being sought been selected, the correct form would’ve automatically populated.”
But there was also another problem.
“Later in the afternoon, the employee who helped him thought that there was also an issue with the check. We went and pulled the check, and it was clearly a cashier’s check, which again, the statute says it has to be a check drawn on the account with the treasurer or the deputy treasurer’s signature on it. Again, it was a cashier’s check. We know that the bank signs that. And so, for that reason as well, the candidate would not be able to qualify”
When Inweekly reached Johnson by phone on Monday, he said, “The system is rigged, just like Donald Trump said. Only in this case, it’s rigged for the incumbent.”
“First thing they say to disqualify me is that I had to fill out Forms 1 and 6,” Johnson said. “It’s a new system. They really just brought it up last Tuesday. I don’t know why they brought that up on Tuesday when the qualifying date was Friday. I had to go online to fill out the form. If you go online, you most likely have to use high-end computers that rich people have access to. When we were online with people, they said I didn’t have to file Form 6 because Form 6 was for incumbents.”
He added, “I think it’s rigged, and I think it’s rigged against poor people. They want to make the office for bougie people.”
Johnson said he was forced to use a cashier’s check because Pen Air Credit Union has discontinued providing counter checks. “This ain’t my first time running. I’ve run about 30 times. In the past, with your campaign repository, you could write a counter. They stopped issuing counter checks, so the only thing I could do was get a cashier’s check.”
He covered the qualifying fee ($5,564.28) by taking out a mortgage on his house. The Property Appraiser’s website values his 888 sq. ft home at $59,395. The County Clerk’s website doesn’t show any mortgages against the property.
Johnson accused Lumon May of helping people steal property.
“You know what they’re doing is they’re using people like Lumon May to steal people’s property. Quint Studer said the problem with District 3 is too many dilapidated buildings,” Johnson said. “You know who owns these buildings? Poor folks who can’t get a loan. It’s a big cabal full of corruptness.”
Before ending the call, Johnson fired off: “I’ve been running all this time to save the public, and now I’m convinced it’s rigged. Lumon May and his dirty Jew friends can go to hell. I’m antisemitic, and I’m proud of it.”
State Rep. Alex Andrade was infuriated by Johnson’s rant.
“There is no room for antisemitism in the Republican Party,” he commented on the blog. “Mr. Johnson didn’t belong in office with that amount of hate in his heart. I’m relieved he won’t be representing my party on any ballot this election, I’d have been mortified and disgusted.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Escambia County Republican Party chair John Roberts disavowed Johnson’s antisemitic remarks. “The Republican Party strongly condemns all antisemitism. We also strongly support Israel and pray that Israel will have a complete victory over the evil, terrorist Hamas.”
Johnson is required to file a campaign finance report on Friday, June 21. Stay tuned.
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