Primary elections will be held Tuesday for seven seats in the Florida House of Representatives, including two races featuring names that will be familiar to Bay area political watchers.
One primary race will also be contested for the Florida Senate.
District 36: Republican primary
In Pasco County, two men are vying to become the Republican candidate for the District 36 seat in the general election. The District 36 seat was held by Republican Mike Fasano until last year, when Fasano was appointed to serve as the Pasco County Tax Collector.
Democrat Amanda Murphy won the special election to replace Fasano, and the winner of the Republican primary will go on to challenge her in the general election.
Attorney Jim Mathieu is running for the District 36 seat for the third time. He serves as Pasco County's Republican party chairman and is the president of a nonprofit charter school. Mathieu has worked as a city attorney, mediator and interim city manager, which he told BayNews9.com makes him "familiar with legislation, insurance, taxes and other major issues facing the citizens" of west Pasco County.
Mathieu says his top priorities include insurance reform, as "flood, sinkhole, auto and property insurance rates are too high for a state that is poised to be the third most populous state." He also supports school choice and wants to address the way legislation is handled.
"The process of passing scores of bills in the closing days of the legislative session, the voluminous number of bills and the lumping of different bills into the same bill must be addressed," he told BayNews9.com.
His opponent, Chris Gregg, is a veteran who currently works as a regional director for American Health Associates. Gregg served as a flight medic in the Air Force between 1991 and 1999. He has previously mounted unsuccessful bids for the state House and for the Pasco County Commission.
Gregg says his top priority is to bring jobs to District 36 and that "every option" is "on the table." He also wants to address insurance costs by bringing more qualified insurance companies to the marketplace in hopes of lowering costs and increasing the quality of service. His final priority is the shuttered nuclear power plant, which he says Duke Energy needs to either build or return the money collected.
District 65: Republican primary
Two Republicans - both political newcomers, both former colleagues in the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney's office - are running in the primary election for the District 65 seat.
The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face Democratic incumbent Carl Zimmerman, who defeated Peter Nehr for the seat in 2012.
Debbie Faulkner is a private practice tax lawyer who once worked as a criminal prosecutor with the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney's office. She has an extensive history of community service, starting when she was 14 years old, when she founded her first non-profit organization.
She told the Tampa Bay Times that she will prioritize restoring ethics, privacy rights and jobs. She is an opponent of red light cameras and Greenlight Pinellas, and that she supports medical marijuana but opposes the current ballot initiative, calling it "overly broad." According to her website, she wants to strengthen Florida's economy by improving the state's infrastructure, decreasing regulation and cutting taxes.
Also running is Chris Sprowls, a special prosecutor in the Gang Unit of the Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office. He worked to establish the Veterans Treatment Court in Pinellas County, after he witnessed "the folly of imprisoning veterans with substance abuse problems." While in law school, Sprowls served as the national chair of the American Bar Association's student division and worked as legislative interns for Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. Mike Bilirakis.
Sprowls told BayNews9.com that his top legislative priority is attracting high-paying jobs in growth industries to his district. He also said he wants to streamline regulations and taxes so they do not cater to special interests. He also considers education to be another high priority. He told the Tampa Bay Times that he opposes the current ballot language regarding medical marijuana, and he personally opposes Greenlight Pinellas, although he believes the issue is best decided by voters.
District 67: Republican primary
One of the more high-profile races is that for the District 67 seat, which is being vacated by Republican state Rep. Ed Hooper. Two Republicans and three Democrats hope to replace Hooper, who is running for a seat on the Pinellas County Commission.
Republican voters will choose between Chris Latvala and Christopher Shepard in the primary election.
Latvala is the son of current state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, and he works as a vice president at Gulf Coast Imprinting Services, where his father is president. He worked as Rep. Hooper’s legislative aide from 2006 and 2009, during which time he said he learned the “importance of constituent service,” which Latvala said his office will strongly focus on if he is elected.
Latvala’s legislative priorities include jobs, education and public safety. According to his website, he is “hesitant” to suggest new state or county spending, but that he also supports the public’s right to vote for such increases, particularly the penny sales tax increase proposed as part of Greenlight Pinellas.
Shepard is a student at St. Petersburg College and an employee of Sam’s Club. A lifelong resident of Pinellas County, Shepard is also an Army veteran who served in Iraq.
Shepard describes himself as a “fiscal conservative” who “hates wasteful spending.” According to his website, he considers himself pro-life, opposes the Affordable Care Act, and has signed Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Those who sign the pledge say they will oppose any and all tax increases.
District 67: Democratic primary
Democratic voters have three choices in the primary: Thomas Ryan, Steve Sarnoff and Shawna Vercher.
Ryan is a dairy employee who is running to be “a voice for the people who have lived from paycheck to paycheck,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Sarnoff is a Clearwater city employee who has also worked as a union leader and a community activist both locally and at a state level. He has been the president Communications Workers of America Local 3179 since 1999.
Sarnoff said his top issue is ensuring education is fully funded in the state of Florida. “We need to provide our children the education and training necessary to compete and succeed in our global economy and to attract and retain all types of businesses,” he told BayNews9.com. He also said he will support investments in infrastructure and lower property insurance premiums for homes and businesses.
Shawna Vercher is a media consultant and radio show host. She has appeared on television as a political analyst and has written for the Huffington Post. She told the Tampa Bay Times she is running for office as a “pro-business progressive.”
Vercher’s top issues include education, reform of Florida’s justice system, safe and affordable access to health care for all Floridians and protecting the state’s natural resources, according to her campaign website.
All three Democratic candidates told the Times they support Greenlight Pinellas and will vote yes on medical marijuana if the ballot measure passes.
District 68: Republican primary
Another Republican primary being contested by the son of a well-known local politician is the race for the District 68 seat, which covers southern Pinellas County.
Republican Bill Young, the son of the late Rep. C.W. Bill Young, is facing off against political newcomer Joshua Black. The winner of the primary will head to the Nov. 6 general election to face Democratic incumbent Dwight Dudley.
Young works in business development for the National Forensic Science Technology Center. He cites his father, who was the longest-serving Republican member of Congress at the time of his death last October, for inspiring him to get involved in public service.
Young says his main priorities are to improve job and education opportunities within the county, and that he will look for ways to cut taxes and limit regulations on businesses. He told the Times he opposes Greenlight Pinellas and does not support the amendment to legalize medical marijuana.
Black is a political newcomer who works as a taxi driver. He made national headlines in January when he posted a Twitter update that said President Barack Obama should be hanged for treason.
Black told the Tampa Bay Times he wants to eliminate property taxes and wants the state to refuse to accept federal money. He does not support Greenlight Pinellas, but he does support the legalization of medical marijuana, saying he’s against the war on drugs and that the ballot measure is a “small step in the right direction.”
Other primary races
Three other primary races for the Florida House of Representatives will appear on ballots in the upcoming elections.
The District 40 Republican primary is between John Shannon and Colleen Burton, who are running for the seat vacated by Republican Seth McKeel. The winner of that primary will face Democrat Ricky Shirah and independent Franklin "Ed" Shoemaker.
In District 42, three Democrats are vying to face incumbent Republican Mike LaRosa. Those candidates are Chad Carnell, Pete Placencia and Zulma Velez-Estrada.
Four Democrats are running in the primary for the District 61 race: Edwin Narain, Sean Shaw, Sharon Carter and Tatiana Denson. No Republicans have filed to run for this seat, which is being vacated by Democrat Betty Reed. One independent candidate - Nicole Santiago - is running.
Voters in northern Pinellas County will also cast a ballot in a Republican primary for the state Senate District 20 race. Incumbent Jack Latvala is facing challenger Zahid Roy in that race.
One race, the Republican primary for District 64 between incumbent James Grant and challenger Miriam Steinberg, will be held in the general election after a judge disqualified a write-in candidate. The write-in candidate’s presence had closed the primary, but the judge’s disqualification opens the race, allowing all voters in District 64 to cast a ballot regardless of political party.