An undeclared Sumter Commission incumbent has drawn another potential opponent from The Villages.
Commissioner Al Butler, a resident of the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter, has not publicly declared whether he will seek another term in District 1.
Villager Gary Search last year filed paperwork to run as a Republican against Butler, who has long been active in GOP politics in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
Village of Osceola Hills resident Larry Green on Wednesday filed paperwork with the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Office indicating he also will be running as an independent for Butler’s District 1 seat.
Last year’s decision by the Sumter Commission to raise property taxes by 25 percent prompted Green to look at the possibility of running for office.
“A lot of people are upset about the way they went about the tax increase,” Green said.
Commissioners unanimously approved the tax increase, which many saw as a sweetheart deal for the Developer of The Villages. Large crowds upset about the tax increase spoke out in a pair of meetings in September at the Savannah Center.
The Birmingham, Ala. native spent several years living in the Florida Panhandle before purchasing a house in 2013 in the Village of Sunset Pointe. Green and his wife rented out that house for two years before making the move to The Villages. They relocated in 2016 to the Village of Osceola Hills.
Incumbent Commissioner Steve Printz filed paperwork last year indicating he will be seeking another term. The Republican has drawn two fellow Republican challengers from The Villages, Charles Kasner and Oren Miller.
Incumbent Don Burgess of the Village of Bonnybrook has not indicated whether he will run again. Villager Craig Estep, a Community Development District 1 supervisor, has filed paperwork to run for the seat currently held by Burgess.