City Elections

Step 1.Requirements

Gainesville City Mayor At-Large: The At-Large Mayor is elected by the electors of the City of Gainesville. The elected candidate will serve a 4-year term ending. Each candidate for an at-large seat must be a qualified voter who is a resident of the city for a period of not less than 6 months prior to the date the person qualifies to run for office. The person elected to an at-large seat shall continuously reside in the city during the term of office. The last dates to have moved into the city to meet the residency requirement for the 2026 election would be between Dec. 8-12, 2025 depending on which day the candidate qualifies in 2026.  

Gainesville City Commission - District 2, District 3, and District 4: If a person is running for a district seat, they will be elected by only the electors of that particular district. The commissioner for a district seat will be elected to serve a four-year term. Each candidate for a district seat must be a qualified voter who is a resident of the district from which they seek to be elected for a period of not less than 6 months prior to the date they qualify to run for office. The person elected Commissioner shall continuously reside in that same city district during the term of office. The last dates to have moved into the city district to meet the residency requirement for the 2026 election would be between Dec. 8-12, 2025 depending on which day the candidate qualifies in 2026.

Find your district

Step 2.Become a Candidate

File to Run:

• Appoint a campaign treasurer and designate a campaign depository.
• File your statement of candidate.
• Submit a monthly campaign report stating your campaign activity to the financial reporting system.

   

Step 3.Qualify

• Sign the Candidate Oath
• File the Affidavit of Residency
• Submit a Financial Disclosure form
• Pay the Elections Assessment or submit an Affidavit of Undue Burden

Elections Assessment: 

The elections assessment for running for the Mayor At-Large seat or City Commission District seats is 1% of the salary of the office as of the July 1 immediately preceding the qualifying period.

• 2026 Mayor At-Large fee is $547.38
• 2026 Commissioner District 2, District 3, and District 4 fee is $430.09

Qualifying Fee:

Pay the Qualifying Fee of 2% of the annual salary of the office sought.

• Mayor At-Large fee is $1,094.76
• City Commissioner District 2, District 3, and District 4 fee is $860.19

Submit petitions with signatures from registered voters. If choosing the petition option, the candidate must pay an advance fee of $0.10 per signature checked to the qualifying officer of the city.

For Mayor at-large seat, the number of petitions necessary is equal to 1% of the registered voters in the last city regular elections. For 2026, candidates will need to submit 697 valid signatures to qualify by the petition method.

For the district seats, the number of petitions necessary is 0.25% of the registered voters in the last city regular elections. For 2026, candidates will need to submit 174 valid signatures to qualify by the petition method.

To qualify by petition method the required number of signatures must be submitted by 12:00 p.m. on May 11, 2026.

Qualifying Dates:

12:00 p.m., Monday, June 8, 2026 – 12:00 p.m., Friday, June 12, 2026

Kristen J. Bryant, Qualifying Officer

Qualifying Location: City Hall, 200 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601

Step 4.Election Date 

Gainesville Regular City Election: Aug. 18, 2026

Gainesville Run-Off Election (if needed): Nov. 3, 2026

Step 5.Post Election

• City Clerk's initial contact with newly elected officials 
• Swearing-in ceremony
• Commissioner on-boarding
• First Commission meeting and committee assignments