Walton County Commission Candidates Court Freeport Business Owners Ahead of August Primary
Walton County commission candidates from District 2 and District 4 met with Freeport business owners this week to make their case ahead of the August 18 primary election, discussing growth, infrastructure, beach access, and taxes.
The forum, reported by Mid Bay News, gave incumbents and challengers alike a chance to introduce themselves directly to Freeport’s merchant community — a constituency that has grown in political significance as Freeport continues to absorb new development along the Highway 331 corridor. Two seats on the five-member Board of County Commissioners are on the ballot this cycle: District 2, currently held by Commissioner Danny Glidewell, and District 4, held by Commissioner Donna Johns.
Glidewell, a seventh-generation Walton County resident first elected in 2018, faces challengers Nicholas Tyler Comer and Warren Whitaker in the District 2 race. Glidewell has long positioned himself as an advocate for north Walton County and has specifically called for concentrating anchor developments in Freeport, DeFuniak Springs, Mossy Head, and Paxton to attract businesses offering higher-paying jobs. His campaign platform emphasizes basing development codes on common sense and protecting the property rights of existing residents.
The District 4 contest has drawn a larger field. Johns, the incumbent, faces former Destin City Councilman Jim Bagby, former Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins, Frederik Carley, and Dan Matacchiero. Bagby has cast himself as “the people’s candidate” and pitched his campaign around practical fixes to the county’s land development code and infrastructure, contrasting his approach with what he describes as the status quo under Johns and developer-aligned policies from Calkins. Calkins has built his platform around traffic, storm resilience, public safety, and lower taxes.
The discussion at the Freeport merchants forum touched on issues that hit close to home for local business owners. Growth and infrastructure have become dominant themes in the 2026 cycle, driven by rapid development along the Highway 331 corridor that connects Freeport to the beaches. Beach access — a perennial concern for inland residents who depend on county-managed access points — was also on the agenda, along with property tax policy. The Walton County commission recently passed a $328 million FY26 budget in a narrow 3-2 vote after debate over debt reserves and long-term fiscal planning, a decision that has added fuel to the campaign conversation.
The August 18 primary will function as a decisive round in these races. Because the District 4 field includes five candidates, the primary could effectively determine the winner if one candidate secures a majority. If no candidate clears 50 percent, the top two vote-getters advance to the November 3 general election. The District 2 three-way race follows the same logic. Walton County voters must be registered by the deadline to participate, and mail ballot requests filed before 2025 have expired — voters needing a mail ballot must submit a new request through the Walton County Supervisor of Elections office.
Originally reported by Mid Bay News — Commissioners and Their Opponents Make Introductions to Merchants in Freeport
