PJ Perez, one of two candidates heading for a November runoff in the Tallahassee City Commission Seat 3 race, and the Leon County Democratic Party wasted no time after the primary election in going after his opponent, Tom Derzypolski, over his past Republican Party affiliation.
Perez, who spent years with no party affiliation before registering as a Democrat in 2025 just before filing to run, sent a mass text to city voters Aug. 24 labeling his opponent as the Republican in the race. Derzypolski has been a registered Republican for most of his adult life, though he also made a party switch last year to NPA.
The political play by Perez was hardly a surprise — it’s a tactic Democratic candidates and their supporters in Tallahassee have used for years in local nonpartisan races against opponents with current or former GOP ties.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Tallahassee by a more than 2-to-1 margin, a slightly higher voter registration edge than in Leon County overall. Perez’s text blast included a red siren emoji not unlike the imagery seen in past mailers against GOP candidates.
“It’s official: PJ is up against a longtime right-wing Republican who openly mocked President Barack Obama’s vision for hope,” the text says. “We won’t go backward. PJ’s opponent is deeply Establishment-aligned and out of step with Tallahassee’s values. But we have momentum!”
Derzypolski didn’t seem overly bothered by his opponents’ strategy, telling the Democrat that “I don’t think it’s going to help them win at all.” He asked aloud whether the local party will support, David Jolly, the newly minted Democratic nominee for Florida governor and a former Republican congressman.
“We have a hyper-partisan statewide race and a nonpartisan local race, and they’re making this an issue because they can’t, in a coherent way, address the challenges that are facing our families. So they want to go back to the same toolbox of partisan politics, putting people in boxes, labeling people and creating tribes. And the people of Tallahassee have had enough of that.”
The Leon County Democratic Party signaled after the Aug. 18 primary that it would actively oppose Derzypolski and support Perez, who is part of a progressive Democratic slate that includes City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who’s running for mayor, and former City Commissioner Dot Inman-Johnson, who’s running for City Commission Seat 5.
Ryan Ray, Matlow’s city aide and political confidante who also chairs the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee, told the Tallahassee Democrat that “all of our resources will be heavily marshaled toward supporting the Democrat.” The party features Perez heavily on its Facebook page, including one post that has the same image and verbiage from Perez’s recent campaign texts.
Minutes after a recount confirmed that Derzypolski secured his spot in the runoff by a mere 15 votes, the local Democratic Party went on the attack on social media. The party posted under Facebook stories about the recount results on WCTV and the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Our clearest choice in November — Democrat PJ Perez vs longtime GOP guy funded by old boys’ developer establishment $,” the party wrote.
“It’s interesting that my opponent, PJ changed his party affiliation the day before … filing to run for office,” Derzypolski shot back. “Why would he do that?? Feels a little like pandering and voters can see through that.”
The party affiliation history of both candidates is a matter of public record — and a topic each of them talked about in interviews with tallahassee.com.
Derzypolski, owner of BowStern Marketing Communications, registered as a Republican on April 4, 2002; changed to Democrat on July 15, 2010; switched back to Republican on Oct. 29, 2010; and became NPA on Aug. 20, 2025, according to the Leon County Supervisor of Elections Office.
He said after enlisting in the Navy at 18 and filling out his voter registration paperwork, he “didn’t understand politics,” but listed the GOP after asking his dad, a Republican, about it. In a 2017 Facebook post, he said he didn’t vote for former President Barack Obama or President Donald Trump, whom he has criticized more loudly over the years.
“I’ve never been partisan,” said Derzypolski. “I’ve never cared about the Republican Party or the Democrat Party. When I’m participating in our local elections, I seek out the best leader for the job, and I could really care less about whether there’s a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ next to their name.”
Derzypolski’s switch to NPA came less than six months before he filed to run for office. However, he said the change had nothing to do with that and that he opted to drop his GOP affiliation while he was updating his driver’s license to show he’s a veteran.
“I just realized I’m right in the middle,” he said. “I had no intention of running for office. Period.”
Perez, a social studies teacher at Tallahassee Collegiate Academy, registered Feb. 9, 2004, as a Democrat; switched to NPA on Oct. 10, 2008; and became a Democrat again on Aug. 11, 2025. He filed to run the next day.
He said in 2006, he passed his subject area examination to become a certified social science teacher and started applying for teaching jobs while also touring as a musician.
“That’s when I switched from Democrat to NPA because I just wanted to be a true, objective public servant, professional educator, and I just wanted to leave the ideology behind. I think a lot of people can probably relate to being an NPA for work.”
Perez said that since registering to vote, he has “always voted Democrat in every election.” He said Tallahassee is “a traditionally blue city” and that he switched back to let voters know they’re voting for a Democrat.
“It’s just a reflection of my values,” he said. “You’re just signaling to voters this is what you’re getting when you pull the lever, when you fill in the blank.”
The race for City Commission Seat 3 eclipsed the other primary contests in terms of sheer Election Night excitement.
With six people competing, Perez ended up on top with 29.06% while his two closest competitors, Derzypolski and Talethia Edwards, trailed neck-and-neck less than 3 percentage points back.
By the time the night was over, Derzypolski was ahead of Edwards by only 24 votes, leading to a recount that saw her close the margin but not enough to win. Derzypolski finished with 26.31% of the vote, while Edwards got 26.27%.
Darryl “Dar Wavemaker” Alfred got 7.35%, followed by Max Herrle with 6.13% and Norm Roche with 4.88%.
Precinct results showing how well the candidates did in each of the five county commission districts show that Perez and Edwards each won two districts and that Derzypolski won one.
In District 1 in the south, a predominantly Black district, Edwards won 51.9%, followed by Perez with 21.4%, Alfred with 11.1%, Derzypolski with 7.3%, Herrle with 5.3% and Roche with 2.8%.
In District 2 in the southwest, Edwards won 38.2%, followed by Perez with 27.3%, Alfred with 13.8%, Derzypolski with 10.1%, Herrle with 7.6% and Roche with 2.7%.
In District 3 in the northwest, Perez won 30.8%, followed by Derzypolski with 30.2%, Edwards with 22.3%, Alfred with 7.4%, Herrle with 5.3% and Roche with 3.9%.
In District 4 in the northeast, a predominantly White GOP district, Derzypolski won 42.6%, followed by Perez with 23.9%, Edwards with 15.5%, Roche with 7.4%, Herrle with 6.5% and Alfred with 3.9%.
In District 5 in the east, a predominately White liberal district, Perez won 35.7%, followed by Derzypolski with 25.0%, Edwards with 21.1%, Herrle with 6.5%, Alfred with 6.1% and Roche with 5.3%.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
