Holt resident and three-term Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles beat Jay Mayor Shon Owens and a field of six other Republicans to secure the GOP nomination for the District 3 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

Owens finished 949 votes behind to finish second.

The big difference lay in the number of voters each of the front runners were able to pull in from the other’s home county. Boyles secured 1,390 votes more in Okaloosa County than the Jay mayor, unofficial results indicated. Owens beat Boyles in Santa Rosa County by only about 440 votes.

With voter turn out at about 28% in both counties, and with all precincts counted, Boyles had secured 8,712 total votes to 7,763 for Owens.

“I’m proud of the support we received in both Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County. It was a spirited, close race and the good news for the district is that the voters had multiple good choices,” Boyles said.

He said it is important to remind everyone following a sometimes contentious campaign that this election was not about Okaloosa or Santa Rosa counties, but about finding someone suitable to represent District 3 in Tallahassee.

To win the seat outright Boyles must defeat Democratic candidate Dondre Wise in a June 10 general election battle.

“I am mindful of the fact that I will have to ask voters one more time to step out and fill in a ballot with my name,” Boyles said.

Wise, who listed a Pensacola home address at the outset of the campaign and has yet to report any campaign finance activity, will be a decided underdog. Republicans outnumber Democrats by large margins in both Santa Rosa County and North Okaloosa County.

More: Here’s everything you need to know about candidates running for Florida’s District 3 Seat

Santa Rosa County has been without a resident member of the Florida Legislature effectively since late November of last year when Dr. Joel Rudman, who lives in Navarre, announced he was resigning his state House seat to run for the congressional seat left vacant by the departure of Matt Gaetz.

The district is composed of all of Santa Rosa County except the southwestern tip, represented by Pensacola resident Alex Andrade, which includes the city of Gulf Breeze, the Pace and Midway communities and Navarre Beach.

District 3 extends enough into North Okaloosa to encompass rural areas north of the county seat of Crestview. The number of registered Republican voters in District 3 in Santa Rosa County outnumber those in Okaloosa County 73,497 to 14,814.

Boyles becomes the first Okaloosa County resident to serve this district since Greg Evers was elected in 2001. Evers, of Baker, served through 2010 in what was at that time District 1.

Hayden Hudson, an assistant state attorney who was Rudman’s choice to follow him into the District 3 seat, was third in the balloting with 2,522 votes. Pace resident Cindy Smith finished fourth with 2,099 votes. Wade Merritt, a Baker resident, pulled enough Okaloosa County votes to finish second behind Boyles in that county’s balloting.

Boyles ran as the darling of the GOP power brokers in Tallahassee and was endorsed by every member of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation. He received significant donations from outside sources during the campaign and was able to tuck $151,000 into his campaign war chest by the Tuesday election.

Owens entered the fray with endorsements from nearly all of Santa Rosa County’s local leadership. Boyles also missed out on an endorsement from outgoing state Rep. Dr. Joel Rudman. Rudman threw his support to Hudson and didn’t hesitate to criticize Boyles as an establishment candidate favored by “old time country club Republicans.” 

Owens took the notion of keeping the district seat in the hands of a district resident, as it had been since Evers with first Doug Broxson, then Jayer Williamson and then Rudman. He blamed candidates who didn’t have a real opportunity to win with siphoning off Santa Rosa County votes that could have gone to him.

“There were two or three people who never had a chance to win that did not really see the importance of this as a Santa Rosa County seat, they were just being selfish,” he said.

Owens said he believes Boyles will serve well at the District 3 representative and he will support him.

Boyles, whose company, Adams Sanitation, serves as the garbage service provider for thousands in Santa Rosa County and employs 75 county residents, has said he believes he is better positioned than anyone in the District 3 race to serve as the representative.

“Santa Rosa County’s success is very important to me. Just as important as Okaloosa County is to me,” he said. “I think I’m the only candidate with real connectivity in both counties.”

Boyles said in a recent candidate survey that he intends to work with the local delegation to support and implement President Trump’s America First mandate.

“I will champion legislation that helps make living in Northwest Florida more affordable by tackling key issues like our continuing property insurance crisis,” he said.

“I believe strongly in championing better infrastructure for our communities,” Boyles said. “This includes an improved road network, rural broadband, adequate contaminant free drinking water, stormwater treatment to keep our surface waters healthy and modern sewage treatment and disposal. I have significant experience in prioritizing infrastructure while keeping taxes low.” 

The decision by Gov. Ron DeSantis to hold off scheduling this primary until April 1 and a general election until June 10 means that Boyles or Wise won’t get the opportunity to participate in the 2025 legislative session.

“If elected, I will be fully dedicated to the job,” he said when asked about the “red-shirt” aspect of the job he has now been hired to do, Boyles said “the additional time ahead of the 2026 legislative session will give me the opportunity to meet with residents and local officials to learn more about the priorities that they expect me to pursue.”

“Starting mid-way through a term allows the opportunity to learn the process in Tallahassee and build relationships to better serve the citizens of the District,” Boyles said.