Editing Jefferson County, Florida (section)

==Government and politics==
Jefferson County, like most counties in the [[Florida Panhandle]], historically voted for Democratic candidates. However, while most counties in the Panhandle started reliably voting for Republican candidates, Jefferson County has divided its support among Democratic and Republican candidates. From 2000 to 2012, while Democratic candidates for President won the county, the margin dwindled over time; in 2016, the county voted for [[Donald Trump]], the first time that it had voted for a Republican presidential candidate since [[1988 United States presidential election in Florida|1988]]. In [[2020 United States presidential election in Florida|2020]], Trump expanded his margin of victory.  Jefferson County consistently backed Democratic candidates in statewide races, but in [[2018 Florida gubernatorial election|2018]], [[Ron DeSantis]] became the first Republican gubernatorial nominee to win Jefferson County since [[1884 Florida gubernatorial election|1884]]. [[Donald Trump]] again increased his margin in 2024, winning the highest percentage of the vote for a Republican presidential candidate since [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] in 1972.

{| class=wikitable
|-
! colspan = 3 | Jefferson County Officials
|-
!Position
!Incumbent
!Next election
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |District 1 Commissioner
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Christopher Tuten
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |District 2 Commissioner
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|Gene Hall
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|2026
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |District 3 Commissioner
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|J. T. Surles
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |District 4 Commissioner
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Austin Hosford
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2026
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |District 5 Commissioner
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Benjamin "Ben" White
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Clerk of Courts and Comptroller
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Kirk Reams
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sheriff
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Mac McNeill
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |Property Appraiser
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|Angela C. Gray
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |Tax Collector
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|Lois Howell Hunter
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="center"|2024
|-
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Supervisor of Elections
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|Michelle Milligan
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"|2024
|}

{{PresHead|place=Jefferson County, Florida|whig=no|source1=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=November 10, 2024}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|5,011|3,429|92|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|4,479|3,897|92|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|3,930|3,541|218|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|3,808|3,945|67|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|3,797|4,088|93|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|3,298|4,135|45|Florida}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|2,478|3,041|124|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|1,851|2,544|414|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,506|2,271|901|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|2,326|2,055|17|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|2,244|2,057|1|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|1,623|2,367|151|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|1,361|2,310|78|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|2,108|1,049|35|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|459|1,066|1,567|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|1,684|1,504|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|600|1,129|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|540|1,201|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|665|1,171|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|153|700|470|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|188|1,071|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|215|1,412|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|127|1,243|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|81|1,418|0|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|235|919|8|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|66|566|49|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|239|754|53|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|104|646|9|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|47|459|50|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|149|565|78|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|123|471|15|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|143|711|10|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|242|1,909|36|Florida}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|0|1,533|0|Florida}}
{{PresFoot|1884|Republican|1,525|744|0|Florida}}