Hansen defeats Rivers for St. Johns port board seat

Clay M. Hansen won the St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District Board Group 5 seat with 14,089 votes (50.34%) to incumbent Tom Rivers' 13,899 votes (49.66%), a margin of 190 votes out of 27,988 counted, according to unofficial results from St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections. All 20 of 20 reporting units had reported. Vote-by-mail results were partially reported, and the count did not include provisional ballots.

The result ends Rivers' tenure on the commission.

What was at stake

The St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District oversees maritime infrastructure and waterway management in St. Johns County. The district holds ad valorem taxing authority and has been active in derelict boat removal, channel marker maintenance and harbor patrol funding, according to the district's website. Five at-large commissioners serve staggered four-year terms.

The key issues:

• Hansen said in a News4Jax voter guide the district should take a more common-sense approach to removing derelict vessels to reduce the county's financial exposure.
• Hansen also said the district should be more careful with tax spending and protect boat yards and marinas from conversion to housing.
• Rivers did not submit responses to the voter guide questionnaire, so no policy positions from his 2026 campaign are on record.

A little history

Hansen runs Hansen Marine Service and listed multiple homeowners association board positions as political experience in the voter guide. Rivers is an incumbent commissioner. The district's board page lists him as serving his third term and notes prior service on the St. Johns County School Board and the St. Johns County Property Adjustment Board.

What's next

The results remain unofficial until the St. Johns County canvassing board completes its work. The county canvass deadline is noon on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, according to Florida law. Vote-by-mail ballots were partially reported on election night, and provisional ballots were not included in the count. Under Florida law, an automatic machine recount is triggered when the margin of victory is 0.5% or less of votes cast, according to Verified Voting. The unofficial margin in this race was 0.6 percentage points.

Election results: St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District Board - Group 5 (Florida General Election, 2026-11-03)

Source: St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections. Results current as of Nov. 3, 2026, 8:43 p.m. EST. Reporting: 20 of 20. Unofficial results; every reporting unit has reported.