A long-running feud between progressive Democrats and establishment and business-backed Democrats in Tallahassee is taking center stage in Tuesday’s primary election in the capital.

Voters will decide whether two incumbents remain in office – Jacqueline “Jack” Porter And Curtis Richardson – who are on opposite sides of the schism and are regularly split 3-2 on major votes before the Tallahassee City Commission.

Although the election is officially nonpartisan, the fight has sparked a wave of emails aimed at motivating Democrats and heated and bitter arguments on social media between supporters of both sides.

A Porter victory and a Richardson defeat would likely spark an uproar at City Hall. Richardson, a former lawmaker and ally of the current mayor John Daileyis being challenged by three candidates. One is Dot Inman-Johnsona former mayor and longtime Democratic activist who was recently part of a group that unsuccessfully sued the governor for redistricting. Ron DeSantis.

Porter and Inman-Johnson are expected to join Commissioner Jeremy Matlow and to unseat the current city manager. Matlow has used a political committee he controls to support both Porter and Inman-Johnson, and in an ad he claims their victory would result in a “balanced commission” uninfluenced by development interests.

Porter is challenged by Rudy FergusonPastor and Executive Director of the Frontline Project, and Louis DilbertDirector of a center at Florida A&M University. If no one receives more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election between the two leading candidates in November, where voter turnout will be significantly higher due to the presidential race.

Ferguson was supported by a political committee headed by a local businessman who is openly at odds with Matlow and has claimed that Matlow has a “neo-socialist/anarchist agenda”.” Both Matlow and Porter opposed using local tax money to support developers Bugra Demirel To Construction of a new retail and restaurant complex on Monroe Street, just south of the Capitol.

Grow Tallahassee, the committee led by Demriel that has received money from local developers and the Florida Police Benevolent Association, has sent numerous letters to registered Democrats. The letters praise Ferguson’s community service while attacking Porter, noting, among other things, that political committees with Republican ties helped her in her first run for office.

A mailer showed Porter’s picture next to pictures of the former president Donald Trump and Republican US Representative. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Matlow’s committee sent its own mailing to Democratic voters containing pictures of Porter, Inman-Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris on the one hand and “Together we can do it” on the other hand.

Much of the funding for Matlow’s committee came from a California group called the Green Advocacy Project, a nonprofit whose leadership includes veterans of the U.S. senator. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential election campaign.

In the run-up to the primaries, candidates discussed issues such as affordable housing, crime, a rise in gun murders, homelessness and economic development. But the personality conflicts and ongoing divisions in the commission were also discussed in forums this summer.

Another flashpoint has been the contentious contract negotiations between the firefighters’ union and the city of Tallahassee. Firefighters have supported both Porter and Inman-Johnson, and during a forum, Porter called it one of the most pressing issues at City Hall.

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