Police unions from Tallahassee and Leon lend support in local elections

The two major police unions in Leon County have endorsed a slate of candidates for the 2024 local elections.

The Big Bend Police Benevolent Association, which represents officers from FSU, FAMU, Quincy and the Tallahassee Police Department, has endorsed incumbent Tallahassee City Councilor Curtis Richardson against his challenger Dot Iman-Johnson and Pastor Rudy Ferguson against incumbent City Councilor Jack Porter.

Richard Murphy, president of the Big Bend PBA, says his group believes Richardson was an ally of law enforcement, while Porter was not.

“Commissioner Porter has voted against our collective bargaining agreement twice. She appointed, in my opinion, an anti-law candidate to the Civil Review Board. And she has always supported Commissioner Matlow and the progressives when they stand up for law enforcement,” he said.

The Leon County PBA, which represents members of the sheriff’s office, has endorsed incumbent County Commissioners Brian Welch and Caroline Cummings. They will announce their support for additional County Commission seats in the coming weeks.

The two PBAs also intervened in the state legislative seat elections, supporting incumbent Representative Alison Tant and Senator Corey Simon.

Local candidates will be available during voting on August 20.^th Primary election. The races for seats in the state parliament will be decided on November 5th.^th parliamentary elections.