Two appointees to the Bartow City Commission were the sole candidates in a potential upcoming municipal election and the newcomers to the commission will now serve out those terms without having to face an election.
Gary Ball and Laura Simpson were sworn in during the Feb. 5 commission meeting and both qualified for the next municipal election. But without any challengers, they will continue to serve the remainder of the terms they were appointed to serve.
Ball was appointed to at-large Seat 4 and he will serve until April 2026. Simpson was appointed for central district Seat 2 and will serve until April 2027.
Both are Republicans. Ball, 58, is a retired Polk County paramedic and currently works for a hospital. Simpson, 47, is an office manager at Crown Electric Inc. in Bartow.
Neither appointee was opposed by a qualified candidate by 5 p.m. Friday, which was the deadline to qualify for Bartow’s municipal election.
Incumbent Seat 1 at-large City Commissioner Tanya Tucker was unopposed by the Friday deadline, so she also will not face an election.