ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Action News Jax is hearing from the Flagler County mother who started the petition to carve out parts of St. Johns County, Flagler County, and Volusia County to create “Trump County.”
Jen Herold told us she made the movement as a way to spur up more money to fund beach restoration projects across northeast Florida, including in St. Johns County. She said she believes it’s an issue that local governments aren’t doing enough about, so she wanted to use the president’s name to draw attention.
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“We’re, in a way, trying to honor [President Trump],” said Herold, “we’re also trying to say, hey, if we’re Trump County, hopefully that brings some of that economic drive here.”
The Florida Constitution says counties can be “created, abolished, or changed by law,” meaning enough support among state lawmakers and the governor is all it would take to create a new county, rather than the support of the voters.
The Florida state library has archives of county maps going back to 1820, when the first state map was established under Spanish rule. Those maps show that a new county hasn’t been established in Florida in almost 100 years, when Gilchrist County was created in December of 1925.
Not every voter we spoke with felt that they could support the creation of a “Trump County.”
“That would be a hard pill to swallow,” said Barbara Hummel, who lives on Anastasia Island.
Anastasia Island is one of the St. Johns County beach communities that would be incorporated into “Trump County,” should it be established by law. Butler Beach, Crescent Beach, Marineland, and St. Augustine Beach would also be split from St. Johns to be incorporated into the new county.
“I think there are better ways to use [President Trump’s] political influence,” Hummel said.
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This isn’t the first time a conversation has started about reshaping parts of northeast Florida into a new county. Action News Jax told you earlier this year that 48% of voters who took a poll from the University of North Florida said they’d support a separation of Atlantic, Jacksonville, and Neptune beaches from Duval County to become their own county.
Action News Jax reached out to multiple St. Johns County commissioners, the St. Johns County Republican Party, and the St. Johns County Democratic Party for their response to the notion of a “Trump County.” We are still waiting for a response.
Herold’s petition, at the publishing of this article, has slightly more than 100 signatures. She told us she’s hoping to rally enough support to catch the attention of state lawmakers sometime over the next few years.
“This would allow all of these areas to pool resources and hopefully efficiently prioritize and meet all of the needs of our coastal areas,” said Herold.
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