Ocala mayoral election 2025

Zackary Feliciano, 20, a candidate for mayor of Ocala, poses for a photo on the Ocala Downtown Square in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

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Posted June 22, 2025 | By Jamie Berube, [email protected]

Ocala is gearing up for its 2025 mayoral election on Sept. 16, with Ben Marciano facing his first challenger since winning the seat unopposed in 2023.

Marciano, who replaced Kent Guinn, Ocala’s mayor for 12 years, faces 20-year-old challenger Zackary “Arbor” Feliciano in the nonpartisan race.

The deadline for requesting a vote-by-mail ballot is Sept. 4 and early voting is from Sept. 11-13.
The election also includes City Council races for Districts 1, 3 and 5. Voters must register by Aug. 18 to participate, with further information available at votemarion.gov

With a $550 monthly salary, the mayor’s role is largely ceremonial but includes oversight of the Ocala Police Department and veto power over the Ocala City Council.

Marciano, born in New York on May 4, 1979, came to Dunnellon as a child and lived with his grandparents. He was named a distinguished alum by the College of Central Florida and has an associate degree in criminal justice.

He shifted his career path to health while studying recreation and leisure at Florida State University. After undergoing recovery from alcohol and substance abuse addiction, he returned to Ocala, where he met his wife, Danielle, and started a family. They now have three children.

Marciano owns Zone Health & Fitness. With ties to the Boys & Girls Club and American Heart Association, Marciano emphasizes continuity in this election.

“The last time I ran I did not hold the position of mayor. This time I am currently in the seat so I will devote less time on the campaign and most of my time to continue to serve the people and the community,” he said. “It has been a good first term and I look forward to the possibility to continue to serve.”

As for highlights from his first term, he said, “I am excited about all that we have accomplished in the last year and think we have just started to pick up some good momentum.”

At this writing, Marciano had raised $1,000 in campaign donations for this election with no reported expenditures.

Feliciano, a Publix employee, moved to Ocala two years ago from Worcester, Massachusetts, as his parents planned for retirement. He said they are very supportive of his running for mayor.

“They think it’s wonderful that I’m doing something like this at 20,” he said.

Feliciano said he completed one year of study at Suffolk University in Boston and gained political experience as a student congressman. He said he serves as vice president of the newly formed Marion County Progressive Caucus, though he states that this title is unofficial at the moment.

Feliciano, who said his campaign will be funded through small-dollar donations, had not raised any donations at the time this article was written.

He said his campaign will target the working poor and youth.

“My top priority is ensuring that our community’s material needs are properly satisfied,” Felicano said.

“Currently, our city government seems much more interested in just sort of letting things be and not stepping in to really take care of our people, which seems to be what we really need. I see so many people working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. It seems untenable to continue this way going forward,” he stated.

Feliciano’s platform also addresses Ocala’s rapid growth. He proposes denser, walkable development in town.

“I believe that we need to focus less on this massive, overdeveloped sprawl that Ocala has become and more on really building a proper dense city,” he explained.

“We have amazing examples in our historic downtown, but then you go two or three blocks outside of it and it’s all spread out, sprawled everywhere, no density, really. And I don’t understand why that is when we could have more affordable housing, more places for people to live, more walkable areas that require less people on the roads and cars when we could encourage denser development,” he continued.

On health, he aims to establish free clinics or a city insurance plan.

“I would love to work with our local health care providers and city council to establish free clinics that are accessible to Ocala residents. Many people in Ocala have to work in Ocala and can’t even afford to live here, or like we have bad health outcomes,” he said.

“That’s something Mayor Ben addresses, but he addresses it in the way that we need to get active and get involved, and I think that’s great,” he continued. “But the real underlying reason is that we’re all kind of working poor in Ocala and we don’t have the best access to health care. And I feel that that’s something the city government should be working to remedy.

Health care disparity is personal to Feliciano.

“My father is diabetic. If it wasn’t for the VA stepping in to help him out, we would have had to make the decision a long while ago: Do we pay for his insulin or rent,” he shared.

How the city uses its funding is a key concern for Feliciano.

“I heard about the city council reappropriating the half-cent sales tax that we had approved in November to go toward ICE funding and we were supposed to use that to ensure our children had better educations,” he said.

The half-cent sales tax Feliciano referred to is on the county and school district levels. The revenue from the tax is supposed to be used to fund new schools and county construction needs, not ICE or immigration law enforcement.

Feliciano proposes higher property taxes on corporations such as Walmart and Publix.

“I would push for a higher tax rate on corporate property so we can properly take care of our community in ways that these mega businesses are refusing to,” he said.

Feliciano also focuses on youth, lamenting what he sees among his peers.

“We’re facing a massive issue of a lot of young people having no clue what to do with their future at Ocala,” he said. “Their plan is to either leave or just sort of coast by on some job that pays them well enough to survive with a roommate or their parents until they can leave. We need to make Ocala somewhere that people want to create a family, grow and spend their lives here, because really, it’s about building a better city and a better community. And I think that as a young person, I am better suited to that.”

He aims to engage diverse communities, welcoming anyone of any walk of life to engage with him during his campaign.

“I am more than happy to talk with them. It is important that everyone’s concerns and needs are heard,” he said.

Feliciano acknowledges that Marciano’s tenure as mayor gives him an edge and he admits that he has not attended any Ocala City Council meetings.

“I plan to change that. Going forward, I hope to attend as many as I possibly can,” he said.

Feliciano has been working with what he calls “more Democratic organizations” for their knowledge and support for his mayoral run.

“Because that is where I’m more closely aligned, although, of course, the race is nonpartisan. So, I’m working on building a good network. I have people who are excited to get involved and just waiting to hear the word on how I can get them involved,” he said.

To learn more, go to votemarion.gov