Robert Jordan announces District 1 County Commission candidacy for North Brevard
Well in advance of the next election, a second candidate has announced his run for the District 1 County Commission seat in North Brevard. Robert Jordan filed paperwork Tuesday.
Jordan, a businessman and president of logistics and procurement company Genesis VII in Titusville, has served both on the Brevard County School Board and the Titusville City Council.
He now is running as a Republican to represent the north end of the county ― including Port St. John, Titusville, Mims and Scottsmoor, as well as part of Cocoa — in county government. That seat currently is held by Rita Pritchett, the current County Commission chair, herself a former member of Titusville City Council and a fellow Republican. Pritchett cannot run again in 2024 due to term limits.
District 1 election:Community activist Seigler is first official 2024 candidate for Brevard County Commission
Jordan's experience:Citizen of the Year finalist Robert Jordan
Two other Republican commissioners also will be term-limited in 2024 ― John Tobia in District 3 and Vice Chair Kristine Zonka in District 5, both South Brevard districts.
Robert Jordan running against Mims activist Dwight Seigler
Even though the election is still nearly two years away, Jordan is the second person to seek the District 1 position.
Jordan will vie against Mims community activist Dwight Seigler, who is mounting his fourth attempt for the seat after running three times before — twice as a Democrat and once as an independent. Seigler this time is running as a Republican. Although held by Democrat Robin Fisher in the past, District 1 has a sizable edge among Republican political party enrollment.
Running as the Democratic candidate in 2020, Seigler lost the race to Pritchett, getting 32.29% of the vote.
Jordan in 2022 announced that he would not run for reelection for his Titusville City Council seat, instead saying he wanted time off to spend with his family and iron out his plans for the future.
Those plans now are taking shape, with this latest announcement by a man who sees himself as a lifelong public servant. "I'm running for many reasons. I've seen a lot of things over the years in this community, and we've done really well, but we've got some tough times ahead," Jordan told FLORIDA TODAY on Tuesday. "With the economy and our infrastructure, I think it's time for me to jump in and help, just like I did on City Council and School Board."
Jordan has also served as chairman of the Parrish Medical Center board of directors and chairman of the Viera Charter School. Jordan said that, if elected, he will prioritize economic development, infrastructure and affordable housing.
"There are many challenges with inflation and everything. We still have to figure out what we consider affordable. We need to do a deep dive into that and figure out how we can tackle these things," he said. "We're bringing a lot of companies and those companies need a workforce, but if the workforce can't afford housing, it's going to be really hard for those companies to succeed." Ultimately, Jordan said, he would prioritize service and responsiveness to constituents if he is elected.
"I'm focused on services for the people and making sure I'm listening to what their challenges are," he said.
The current salary of county commissioners is $60,272.98.
There are no announced candidates yet in County Commission Districts 3 or 5.
County Commission races are staggered, and Districts 2 and 4 held their races in 2022 for four-year terms.
Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or [email protected]. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Robert Jordan running as candidate in Brevard County Commission