Clay’s Judson Sapp Faces Off Against Putnam’s Jamie Watts

Republican Primary Is Aug. 20 for State House District 20

Judson Sapp (left) and Jamie Watts (right) before the Q&A portion of the candidate forum.

By SHELBIE GRAHAM

After eight years in the Florida House of Representatives, Bobby Payne (R-Palatka) is leaving office this year because of term limits. Since first being elected in 2016, Payne has sponsored or co-sponsored over 300 bills during his sessions in Tallahassee, with about half being codified into Florida law.

Now, his constituents in State House District 20 are faced with a burning question:

Should Payne’s successor come from Clay or Putnam County?

The Putnam Republican Club held a candidate forum earlier this month at the Palatka campus of St. Johns River State College which exhibited the two upcoming Republican candidates: Judson Sapp and Jamie Watts.

Since District 20 has a Republican majority, the first and likely largest hurdle for the two contenders will be the Republican primary on Aug. 20.

During the forum, the two candidates shared similar Republican views: advocating for less taxes, championing conservative values, distrusting federal agencies and protecting the Second Amendment. But there were some noticeable differences.

Clay’s Judson Sapp

The CEO of W.J. Sapp Railroad Contractor lives in Green Cove Springs. He and his father are board members of Signal 35, a charity fund founded in 2023 that financially assists Clay County’s first responders.

He previously ran against Kat Cammack in 2020 and Ted Yoho in 2018, losing the Republican primary both times.

During the forum, Sapp expressed an interest in abolishing property taxes.

Sapp certainly canvassed the Palatka residents, but he also positioned himself as someone with ties across the four-county District.

“I love not just Putnam County, but the entire district. I’ve got a home in Green Cove. I’ve got a home in Putnam. My CFO lives in Marion County… I have a warm spot for St. Johns County because I spent my summers over there with my grandmother,” Sapp said.

“You never want to represent one area. You want to represent your entire district. You owe it to them,” Sapp said later.

Putnam’s Jamie Watts

After serving on the Welaka Town Council for over a decade, Watts was elected as mayor in 2021. Since the forum was in Putnam, the mayor had a homecourt advantage but was unable to ignore the political headwind from his “troubling history.”

“Yes, I have a mugshot. Me and Donald Trump have a mugshot,” Watts said during the forum’s Q&A portion.

Watts was arrested in 2008 and was charged with one count of felony dumping. This was because in 2005, heavy rainfall led to a surge of raw sewage flooding into his family’s funeral home, he told Florida’s Voice. A director of environmental health “caught them pumping contents of their septic tank onto their own property.”

Watts’ charge was dropped a year later after he completed a pretrial intervention.

In 2023, Action News Jax uncovered allegations made against Watts from his ex-wife and later ex-girlfriend, which included harassment and stalking.

District 20 includes segments of four separate counties: southern Clay, the entirety of Putnam, northern Marion and eastern St. Johns.

The women ultimately decided not to press chargers. Watts declined to comment when Action News Jax confronted him during a campaign event in Keystone Heights.

During the forum, Watts supported House Joint Resolution (HJR) 7017, an amendment that will be on the ballot this November which would increase homestead exemption each year based on CPI (consumer price index).

The mayor made sure to flex his close ties to Putnam.

“Each of those counties (in District 20) have two or more state representatives. We have one,” Watts said.

“If we lose our representation… there will be no one from Putnam County advocating for us in Tallahassee,” Watts added.