Volusia County Councilman Jake Johansson on Tuesday announced that he’d be seeking higher office in the 2026 election season. Johansson, who holds the At-Large seat on the County Council, confirmed he’d be running for the Florida state Senate in District 8.
As of Wednesday, Johansson is filed against one other Republican who’s declared their candidacy: Elizabeth Fetterhoff. Based out of DeLand, Fetterhoff served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022 in District 26.
The Political Environment
Johansson will be running as a Republican in a district which votes firmly red. Its current officeholder, state Senator Tom Wright, won the general election in 2022 with 63.0% of the vote. He did not receive a Democratic challenger in 2024. Wright is barred from running for another two years by Florida’s term limit laws.
“I spent decades in the Navy to make America great and I want to continue my work as our next State Senator, because Florida is on the frontlines of so many important battles,” Johansson said. “Our state needs tried and true conservative leadership to continue making Florida a model for the rest of America. I will be a passionate, principled fighter for critical public safety needs, educational and workforce opportunities, tax reform and personal freedoms.”
Election Background
The Florida Senate’s 8th district covers most of Volusia County, as well as a chunk of Brevard County to the south. The remainder of Volusia County is encompassed in District 7 along with Flagler, Putnam, and St. Johns counties. It’s represented by Republican Tom Leek.
Prior to being elected to the Volusia County Council, Johansson served as Port Orange City Manager from 2015 to 2020. He resigned from that post at the end of the year, after a stressful period at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trade-off for Johansson’s ambitious legislature run will be that he foregoes the opportunity to run for a second term on the County Council. He advanced out of the August 2022 primary election alongside Doug Pettit, who he defeated with a steady 58.7% majority in November. Alongside Johansson and Pettit, that race also drew the candidacies of Sherrise Boyd, Andy Kelly, and Heather Post.
The positive side of this is that we get him off of the county council. He does not care what his constituents think. Just watch him at the county council meetings.