Republican Samantha Scott is now unopposed in the Special Election for House District 52 after Democrat Pamala Kaye Bivins withdrew her candidacy Monday.
Division of Elections records show Bivens (whose campaign documentation listed her as Pamela Harrison-Bivins) submitted her withdrawal letter ahead of today’s noon qualifying deadline. Her official statement was brief: “I, Pamala Kaye Bivins, withdraw from the Special Election as a candidate for State Representative, District 52.”
Her exit leaves Scott as the only candidate who qualified for the ballot. Scott had already consolidated significant support in the race to succeed former state Rep. John Temple, who resigned in September to become President of Lake-Sumter State College.
Her campaign rolled out endorsements earlier this month from U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and a wide slate of sitting House Republicans, along with local officials across Sumter and Hernando counties. The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee also backed her bid.
The district’s Special Primary had been set for Jan. 13, with a March 24 General Election to follow. With no other candidates in the mix, a Special Primary will not be held.
Per Florida elections law, neither will a General. As 2026 statutes state: “Except for justices or judges seeking retention, the names of unopposed candidates shall not appear on the General Election ballot. Each unopposed candidate shall be deemed to have voted for himself or herself.”
Despite going unopposed, Scott may not be seated as HD 52’s next Representative until midnight the day after the General Election would have taken place, or March 25 in Scott’s case.
That will leave HD 52 without representation for the entirety of the 2026 Legislative Session, which runs Jan. 13-March 13, assuming the Legislature adjourns on time — something that is far from a given in the wake of last year’s marathon Session and the many small overruns that preceded it in years past.
Scott, a businesswoman and lifelong Sumter County resident, currently serves as Chair of the Republican Party of Sumter County and sits on the Lake-Sumter State College District Board of Trustees as a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee.
