The number of young professionals seeking political office continues to grow, and more names are being mentioned. Rep. Frank White, who is seeking the Attorney General post, and Rep, Jayer Williamson, who has been promoted to vice chair of the House Government Accountability Committee, have inspired others to seek office in 2018.
Kendrick Doidge, Robert Bender, and Chris Phillips are the young faces running for Escambia County District 4 seat. OnBikes Pensacola co-founder Walker Wilson is running for the District 3 Escambia County School Board seat. Rebekah Bydlak and Alex Andrade are running for House District 1 and District 2 seats respectively. Attorney Megan Fry, a shareholder of Clark Partington, is another name being mentioned as a possible candidate for House District 2.
No one has filed for the Pensacola City Council seats. District 2 (Sherri Myers), District 4 (Larry Johnson) and District 6 (Brian Spencer) are up for re-election in 2018. Several young professionals are discussing seeking the council seats. Joe Vinson, who considered running against Johnson in 2014, might jump into the race this time.
More names will surface in December and January.