Your Nov. 3 ballot in Sebastian: two council seats, three charter questions, and everything above them

This year’s Sebastian ballot has a few items only Sebastian voters will see: two City Council seats and three questions about the city charter. Here is everything on it, so you can read it at home first.

This guide sticks to the facts: who and what is on the ballot, and how to vote. It does not tell you how to vote. Your exact ballot depends on your address, so look up your own sample ballot at voteindianriver.gov.

How to vote

• Early voting: through Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and until 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. Use any of four sites: the Main Library, 1600 21st St., Vero Beach; the Supervisor of Elections office, 4375 43rd Ave., Vero Beach; the Intergenerational Recreation Center, Room 112, 1590 9th St. SW, Vero Beach; or Sebastian City Hall Council Chambers, 1225 Main St., Sebastian.
• Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at your own assigned polling place only.
• Mail ballots: the deadline to request one has passed. If you have one, it must arrive by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. Drop it at the secure ballot intake station at City Hall during early voting hours, or at the Supervisor of Elections office in Vero Beach. Polling places do not accept mail ballots on Election Day.
• What to bring: a photo ID with your signature. If your photo ID has no signature, bring a second ID that does. Without proper ID you can still vote a provisional ballot.

Only on Sebastian ballots: City Council

Two at-large, nonpartisan seats, each a two-year term. At-large means the whole city votes on both seats. You can vote for up to two of these five candidates, listed in alphabetical order: Robert Gable, Damien Gilliams, Richard Gillmor, Sherrie Matthews (incumbent) and Deborah Shellenberger.

Council member Ed Dodd is not on the ballot. After the election, the five council members choose the mayor and vice mayor from among themselves. A 73-minute recording of the Oct. 2 candidate forum is on Sebastian Daily’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Only on Sebastian ballots: three charter questions

The Supervisor of Elections lists City of Sebastian Referendum Questions 1, 2 and 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot. Each asks whether to change the city charter, the city’s basic rulebook.

The changes came from the city’s Charter Review Committee. In May, the City Council sent them on to be written up as ballot questions. It kept the committee’s changes on council residency and struck two proposed rules on who could not run for office. Readings were scheduled for June and July.

Because the final wording matters, read each question in full on your sample ballot before you vote. Questions about what they mean can go to the Sebastian City Clerk at City Hall, 1225 Main St.

County and special district races

• County Commission, District 2 (an open seat; Commissioner Joe Flescher is not running again): Jennifer Pippin (Republican), Robbie Hardingham (Democrat), plus a write-in candidate.
• County Commission, District 4: Deryl Loar (Republican, incumbent), Marc Jaffe (Democrat).
• Sebastian Inlet District, Seat 5, a nonpartisan race. Voters inside the district in both Brevard and Indian River counties elect its commissioners. Check your sample ballot for the names.
• Indian River Mosquito Control District, Seat 2, a nonpartisan race. Check your sample ballot for the names.
• There is no school board race on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Federal races

• U.S. Senate (a special election to finish Marco Rubio’s term, which runs through January 2029): Ashley Moody (Republican), Angie Nixon (Democrat), Neil J. Gillespie (No Party Affiliation).
• U.S. House, District 9: Dan Green (Republican) and Darren Soto (Democrat, incumbent). Florida redrew its congressional map in April 2026.

State races

• Governor and Lt. Governor: Byron Donalds and Bryan Avila (Republican); David Jolly and Gwen Graham (Democrat); Scott Eckhard Jewett and Nicole Skelly (Libertarian); and five No Party Affiliation tickets: Charles Burkett and Ruben A. Coto, Frank J. Russo and Rachel Rodriguez, Moliere “Moe” Dimanche and Benjiman Rojas, Dean Ocean Abrams and Joe Van Vactor, and Jeffrey Peter “Dr. Jeff” Datto and Juan Santana.
• Attorney General: James Uthmeier (Republican), Jose Javier Rodriguez (Democrat).
• Chief Financial Officer: Blaise Ingoglia (Republican), Annette Taddeo (Democrat).
• Commissioner of Agriculture: Wilton Simpson (Republican), Joey Mendoza Atkins (Democrat).
• State House, District 34: Robbie Brackett (Republican, incumbent), Jordyn Guadalupe Balderas (Democrat). There is no state Senate race on this year’s Indian River County ballot.

Judges: yes or no on keeping each one

Florida judges do not run against opponents in these races. You vote yes or no on whether each one keeps the job. On the ballot: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz, and five judges of the 4th District Court of Appeal, which hears appeals from Indian River County: Alan O. Forst, Mark W. Klingensmith, Johnathan D. Lott, Shannon K. Shaw and Caroline Cahill Shepherd.

The three state constitutional amendments

The Legislature put all three on the ballot. Each needs at least 60% of the statewide vote to pass. Here is what a “yes” would do, in plain words. A “no” keeps things as they are.

• Amendment 1, Budget Stabilization Fund: raises the cap on the state’s rainy-day savings fund from 10% to 25% of general revenue, and requires the Legislature to set money aside each year (the lesser of $750 million or what is needed to reach the cap), with some exceptions.
• Amendment 2, Exemption of Tangible Personal Property on Agricultural Land from Taxation: exempts farm equipment and similar property kept on agricultural land and used for farming or agritourism from property tax, starting with tax year 2027.
• Amendment 3, Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments: raises the homestead exemption on non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, then adjusts it for inflation. It lowers the yearly cap on assessment increases for rentals, second homes and business property from 10% to 5%, and limits how local governments may use property tax money. It would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

What to do this week

1. Look up your sample ballot and your Election Day polling place at voteindianriver.gov, or call the Supervisor of Elections at 772-226-4700 (Spanish: 833-347-2763). If the Sebastian council race is on it, you live inside city limits.
2. Read the three charter questions in full at home. They are short, but every word counts.
3. Watch the candidate forum recording if you want to hear the council candidates in their own words.
4. Vote early at City Hall, or return your mail ballot there during early voting hours.
5. Bring a photo ID with your signature.