St. Johns County politics has entered a new phase: Republicans are no longer simply running against Democrats, they are running against each other. The divide has been on display during commission meetings over growth, clear-cutting, infrastructure and the influence of developers in local government for a long time. While St. Johns County remains a heavily Republican county, the current political tension is less about party affiliation and more about what kind of Republican leadership voters want.
For St. Johns County voters, the most important local election of 2026 will not happen in November. It will happen on August 18, 2026, where two St. Johns County Commission races, District 2 and District 4, will be be decided during the primary election in a universal primary contest. For the first time in 10 years, no No Party Affiliation candidate qualified before the deadline for those county commission races. Because the contests are made up of Republican candidates without general-election opposition, the August primary will function as the deciding election for those seats.That means every registered voter in St. Johns County, regardless of party affiliation or location, will be able to vote for the candidate of their choice. The contests will appear on Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan ballots in the primary.
Vicky Oakes, the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections office confirmed “the last time this happened for county commission races was in 2016.”
This is not happening during a quiet political season. The county commission is currently at the center of one of the sharpest political debates in St. Johns County: how to handle growth.
On one side are slow-growth conservatives who argue that residents elected commissioners to protect the county’s character, push back against overdevelopment and stop the clear-cutting that has become a common frustration across fast-growing parts of St. Johns County.
Ann Taylor exclaimed at the March 18, 2025 commission meeting was that “One of the top things that I heard from our residents in this county is they are so tired of the clear cutting.”
On the other side are Republicans who argue that growth is already here, and that refusing to plan for roads, utilities and infrastructure will only leave the county farther behind. “We’ve had a history in St. Johns County of saying we don’t need to build infrastructure because if we build infrastructure, people will come,” defends Clay Murphy. “And then we find that people come anyway and we don’t have infrastructure. Now we’re farther and farther behind.”
That argument has become one of the central fault lines in local politics. To some residents, new infrastructure feels like an invitation for more development. To others, infrastructure is a necessary response to growth that has already been approved, permitted or built.
“I was put here to protect our county and stop the growth, and this is promoting the growth in my opinion,” Krista Josephs said at the February 18, 2025 commission meeting. “We all were elected to slow the growth.”
At the March 18, 2025 commission meeting Christian Whitehurst defends himself saying “I’ve never made a statement in support of clear-cutting…. I just, for the record, I don’t support clear-cutting.”
In District 2, Commissioner Sarah Arnold is not seeking re-election, leaving an open seat at a time when growth remains one of the county’s most emotionally charged issues. In District 4, the debate includes the future of representation in Ponte Vedra, Nocatee and other areas where development, traffic and preservation concerns remain front and center.
The result is a countywide political moment that is both unusual and consequential. For voters, the question is not simply which Republican candidate wins. It is which version of Republican leadership will shape St. Johns County’s next chapter: one focused primarily on slowing growth and resisting development pressure, or one focused on managing growth through infrastructure and long-term planning.
Either way, the August primary on August 18, 2026 will determine the balance of power on a county commission already divided over how to handle the county’s future.
