Special Election In Lynn Haven Set For January 20th

LYNN HAVEN, FL – The recall of Lynn Haven Mayor Jesse Nelson is moving ahead after the Recall Committee gathered over 2,500 signatures on petitions. Chief Judge Patterson set the date for a ballot on January 20, 2026, to allow Lynn Haven residents to vote whether or not to remove Mayor Jesse Nelson from office. 

On the same ballot, each voter will indicate who they would like to have fill the vacancy, should Nelson be removed from office. Only one candidate, Dave Lowery, qualified by the December 10th deadline to run for Mayor, so a vote to recall Mayor Jesse Nelson is effectively a vote for Dave Lowery to take his place.  The salary for the remainder of the term will be $19,860.13.

Vote-by-mail ballots will be sent on December 18th, 2025, to voters with a request on file.

The deadline to register to vote in this election is December 22, 2025.

The deadline to request a ballot to be mailed is 5 pm on January 8th, 2026.

Early voting is January 12th through 16th, 2026, 8 am to 5 pm.

Election day voting is January 20, 2026, 7 am to 7 pm, at the Lynn Haven Senior Center, 905 Pennsylvania Avenue, Lynn Haven, Florida.

Mayor Nelson announced that he will not resign from office but instead filed a law suit, Case # 25001332CA, against James Finch, Chairman of the Lynn Haven Recall Committee and Nina Ward, Bay County Supervisor of Elections, demanding a jury trial, and claiming on the “Civil Cover Sheet” that the “Type of Case” is “Discrimination!”