Jenn Bradley draws opposition in SD 6 from Democrat Jason Bellamy-Fults

Democrat Jason Bellamy-Fults has opened a campaign account in Senate District 6, where Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley is the incumbent.

But he wasn’t his first choice as a candidate.

“I tried to recruit someone else, but nobody was fool enough,” he said, noting that he’s “not naïve” about the task ahead.

Fults is a newcomer to politics, but he’s no stranger to the greater Gainesville community.

According to his bio from the Community Weatherization Coalition, Fults has previously served as union liaison for the Alachua County Labor Coalition. He currently serves as office manager for United Faculty of Florida at UF and Recording Secretary for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1205.

Per his e-portfolio, he has also worked as an adult educator, an electrical worker, solar installer and electrical apprenticeship instructor.

He also had a stint on Gainesville’s Utility Advisory Board (UAB), which served as the inspiration for his graduate thesis reviewing orientation procedures at public utilities.

His interest in utilities ultimately drove his decision to challenge the entrenched incumbent, as he said he was “disappointed” in Bradley’s support for legislation that gives the Governor’s Office control over Gainesville Regional Utilities and what he sees as her opposition to public sector unions. Fults says he feels antagonized and believes the incumbent needs to “explain her votes.”

Fults will face a tall task in attempting to unseat Bradley, who succeeded her husband Rob Bradley in the Senate after getting 75% of the vote in the 2020 General Election. No one challenged her in 2022 when she was last on the ballot.

Bradley ended the first quarter of 2026 with nearly $100,000 in her campaign account. She also has more than $2.1 million in her political committee, “Women Building the Future.”

She raised nearly $200,000 in the first quarter of 2026, with major donors such as RAI Services, the REALTORS PAC, and Philips Infrastructure among the leaders from January to March.

Fultz endeavors to make Bradley “answer for where the money came from.”

Senate District 6 sprawls through North Central Florida, connecting Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Gilchrist and Union counties.

Bradley has been advantaged by being in the district, which has held the current map since 2022’s redistricting, bringing home appropriations and doing casework.

But Fults says he has been communicating with “folks throughout the district” and is confident he can make his case for change in a district that is overwhelmingly Republican.