Brevard County Special Districts on Your 2026 Ballot: 29 Seats, 4 Real Races

Gavel on a council dais behind a navy overlay, headline The Seats Nobody Ran For: 29 seats on the SOE special-district list, 5 decided by voters Nov. 3, 15 unopposed, 9 drew no candidate.

Brevard County special districts on the Supervisor of Elections' special-district list have 29 seats up in 2026. Only four races are contested, and nine seats drew no candidate. Here's the full list.

As the Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida, I spend a lot of time on the bottom of the ballot, because that's where the least-watched governments live. Special districts are local governments with their own boards and, in many cases, their own power to tax or assess your property. Most voters never notice them until they read their tax bill.

Brevard County special districts: what's on the ballot

The Supervisor of Elections' "Special Districts" list has eleven districts with seats up this year, 29 seats in all (SOE 2026 candidate list, checked October 19, 2026). That includes the Sebastian Inlet Tax District, which covers south Brevard and part of Indian River County; its candidates run district-wide in both counties (state candidate list). The SOE lists two other special districts, the Canaveral Port Authority and the Soil and Water Conservation District, with county offices, so they're covered separately below and not in the 29. Here's how the 29 break down:

Result Seats Where
Contested on Nov. 3 5 seats in 4 races Barefoot Bay Recreation District Trustee (3 candidates for 2 seats); Heritage Isle at Viera CDD Seats 1 and 2; Sebastian Inlet Tax District, District 5
Unopposed 15 Baytree CDD (3), Everlands CDD (3), Heritage Isle CDD Seat 3, Montecito CDD (2), North Merritt Island Advisory Board (2), Port Malabar Holiday Park Recreation District (1), Sebastian Inlet Tax District, District 4, Viera East CDD (2)
No qualified candidate 9 Chaparral of Palm Bay CDD (2), Willow Creek CDD (2), North Merritt Island Advisory Board (2), Port Malabar Holiday Park Recreation District (3)

("CDD" means community development district.) Countywide, the Soil and Water Conservation District has five seats up: three candidates are unopposed and two seats drew no candidate. The three Canaveral Port Authority seats up this year were all settled before November. Neither is counted in the 29.

So of the 29 seats on the SOE's special-district list, only 5 will actually be decided by voters on November 3. Nine seats, nearly a third of the total, had nobody qualify.

Why the empty seats matter

Most of these boards are more than advisory. Under Florida law, an elected CDD board can levy a property tax of up to 3 mills for operations (up to 5 if the city or county has granted it certain extra powers), plus more to pay off its bonds, and it can put benefit assessments on your tax bill that the Tax Collector collects alongside county taxes (s. 190.021, F.S.). The Canaveral Port Authority, an independent special district, is also "empowered to levy ad valorem taxes" (Port Canaveral financials).

When no one qualifies for an elected CDD seat, state law is direct: "a vacancy in that seat shall be declared by the board effective on the second Tuesday following the election. Within 90 days thereafter, the board shall appoint a qualified elector to fill the vacancy. Until such appointment, the incumbent board member in that seat shall remain in office" (s. 190.006(3)(b), F.S.). This year that's Nov. 17, with appointments due within 90 days after that. In plain English: four Brevard CDD seats this year, two at Chaparral of Palm Bay and two at Willow Creek, will be filled by the board itself, not by the voters who live there.

My view: the proper role of government starts at the bottom of the ballot

In my personal view, a board that can tax you should have to face you. The proper role of government includes accountability to the people paying the bill, and that accountability disappears when no one runs. That's not a knock on the volunteers who serve on these boards. It's a call for more of us to step up.

If you live in a CDD or a recreation district, here's what you can do:

  • Read your TRIM notice from the Property Appraiser each August. It lists every taxing authority on your property.
  • Go to one board meeting a year. These meetings are public.
  • Run. Elected CDD seats must be filled by "a qualified elector of the district": a registered voter, 18 or older, who is "a legal resident of Florida and of the district" (s. 190.006; s. 190.003). Candidates "qualify for individual seats in accordance with s. 99.061" through the Supervisor of Elections.

Before you vote

Your precinct and address decide which special districts are on your ballot. Look yours up with the SOE's Find Your Precinct tool. Early voting runs October 19 through October 31 (sites and hours). My personal take on the rest of the ballot, except judicial races, where I make no recommendations, is in my Voter Guide, and you'll find more posts like this one on the blog.

Special district races are nonpartisan, and I'm not making recommendations in them. Opinions in this post are my personal view as Josiah Gattle, Republican State Committeeman for Brevard County, Florida. They are not a statement by any party organization.

LET'S WIN TOGETHER!

Sources: Florida Division of Elections, 2026 General Election candidate list, Sebastian Inlet Tax District (Brevard); Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, 2026 Candidates, Find Your Precinct and Early Voting pages (votebrevard.gov), checked Oct. 19, 2026; Fla. Stat. 190.003, 190.006 and 190.021 (flsenate.gov, 2026); Canaveral Port Authority, Financials page (portcanaveral.com).

Political advertisement paid for and approved by Josiah Gattle for Brevard Republican State Committeeman.

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