TALLAHASSEE – State Rep. Paula Stark is suing the state after she wasn’t placed on the ballot during qualifying week earlier this month.
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The St. Cloud Republican claims she submitted all her proper paperwork June 12, the last day of qualifying, but has said the Division of Elections staffer handling it improperly told rejected her financial disclosure forms.
Stark’s campaign treasurer, Joel Davis, signed a sworn statement saying he submitted the financial disclosure paperwork, known as Form 6, but the staffer “erroneously returned” the form to Davis.
The lawsuit, filed in Leon County Circuit Court on Friday, says Stark is legally qualified for the race and asking for her to be placed on the District 47 ballots.
“Without the court’s intervention, (Stark) will be precluded from being a candidate in the election,” the filing states. “(Stark) has no other remedy to contest her unlawful exclusion from the ballot.”
The snafu on the financial disclosure form came after Davis initially tried to pay the qualifying fee with a cashier’s check the morning of June 12 but was told that wouldn’t be accepted. According to his sworn statement, Davis returned at 11:35 a.m. – 25 minutes before the noon deadline to qualify – with the paperwork.
Florida’s qualifying period for legislative races began at noon June 8 and ran until noon June 12.
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Two Democrats, Jorge and Anthony Nieves, did qualify for the ballot and if Stark isn’t placed on the ballot the seat would flip to Democrats after the November general election.
Stark’s lawsuit, though, could affect their primary.
In Florida, primaries are closed, meaning only voters registered as a member of that party can vote in the primary. But there’s an exception if no one else qualified for the ballot.
If Stark’s challenge is successful and she’s installed on the ballot the Democratic primary will be limited to Democratic voters, but if it isn’t all voters in the district will be able to vote in the primary.
Stark’s District 47 seat covers a sliver of Orange County and a chunk of Osceola County that includes St. Cloud. It’s considered a toss-up district for legislative elections, and Stark has won narrow victories during her time in office
She first joined the House in 2022 by defeating Nieves by 878 votes out of more than 46,000 cast, less than 2 percent. In 2024 her margin of victory was 1,246 votes over Democrat Maria Revelles, about 1.6 percent.
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