TALLAHASSEE — State Rep. Paula Stark, a two-term Republican from St. Cloud, drove all the way to Tallahassee on Friday morning to hand in paperwork needed to run for reelection to the state house district she’s represented for the last four years.
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She got her documents filed and stamped, including the required payment, before the noon deadline and thought she was all set to run unopposed in the Republican primary, only to discover later that day that her name was removed from the state candidate website.
Now she’s trying to figure out why that happened and how to get back on the November ballot.
“We were completely caught off guard when it went from active to disappeared,” Stark said Monday morning.
State elections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told the Orlando Sentinel later Monday that Stark “did not submit all the necessary qualifying items,” but she didn’t specify which items Stark failed to provide nor say whether the issue could be resolved.
Stark maintains she filed all the required paperwork, but was told the agency hasn’t received her financial disclosure form. She said she filed the form electronically Thursday. Records show the document was received that day.
Stark and her partner, Joel Davis, who is chair of the Osceola County Republican Executive Committee, said they reached out to the House Speaker’s Office and contacted a lawyer for advice. They also sought information from state election officials but have not heard back.
“We can’t figure out why this is an issue,” Davis said.
As an added precaution, Davis said, he handed a copy of the financial disclosure form to the Division of Elections clerk on Friday, along with a candidate oath of office form and a check for the filing fee, which were time-stamped and filed before the noon deadline, records show.
The clerk returned the financial disclosure form without comment, Davis said, making them think it was in order. Usually, if there is an issue with the paperwork or a missing form, the clerks will let the candidate know, he said.
Stark, a former local newspaper editor and nonprofit executive who has lived in St. Cloud for more than 20years, has gotten some online heat for the mishap. Since no other Republican qualified for the seat that she flipped red in 2022, it could wind up under Democrat control again without a fight, if she remains off the ballot. In that case, an open primary would be held Aug. 18, which would allow all voters in the district to cast ballots regardless of party affiliation.
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Matt Isbell, a Democratic consultant who analyzes election results, posted on X that it was a “really funny end for a representative tenure. This is the risk you take with last minute filings.”
Isbell also noted that Stark had not raised much money, and wondered if she was fully invested in getting reelected.
Stark insists that she is committed to winning a third term and believes she did everything the law required.
Some local Republicans, like those she met at a gathering Saturday, were very supportive, Stark said. And she received a supportive call from one of the two Democratic candidates who qualified, Anthony Nieves, who ran against her unsuccessfully in 2022 and ran again in 2024 but lost to Maria Revelles in the Democratic primary.
Stark has had issues with state requirements in the past.
She had her taxpayer-financed House office account suspended in March of 2024 after she failed to file required finance forms correctly and on time. House staff found $13,000 worth of irregularities. They blamed the problems on office staff.
Stark said her account has since been straightened out.
Stark also owes the Florida Election Commission $16,000 in late fees on her political action committee, which the state revoked for nonpayment. She has appealed those fines.
Those issues should not have disqualified her from seeking reelection, Davis said.
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“We really think it will get cleared up,” Davis said.
If not, he said, they will consider whatever legal action is available to them.