Vero Beach Republican Debbie Mayfield now faces a GOP challenger for her House District 54 seat.
Joshua Lawrence Fields filed paperwork to run in the heavily Republican Indian River County area, which includes northern St. Lucie County. Currently, there are 44,400 Republican voters, 27,000 Democrats and about 23,400 independents.
In 2012, Mayfield won District 54 unopposed after raising nearly $147,000. With a new Republican challenger, she will have to step up fundraising, having only $5,575 in her account so far.
Mayfield will also be term-limited in 2016 if she wins re-election. After that, she could either go for the House again — after sitting out two years — or she can run for the Florida Senate immediately.
Fields is a self-described “Tea Party type” — a conservative Christian constitutionalist. He is Nova Southeastern University graduate that served as Florida Pharmacy Association treasurer for their political fundraising committee.
Fields is running because he wants conservative politicians to be more aggressive; he said he has no particular problems with Mayfield.
Mayfield recently filed House Bill 25, which delays the adoption of Common Core academic standards in Florida schools, something that Fields applauds. He just feels that it took her too long to address the issue.
“I think we need to be a little more assertive in pushing back,” Fields told reporters.
Only one other state Treasure Coast lawmaker faces competition for 2014. Brandon Cannon will challenge Sen. Joe Negron from Stuart in the Port St. Lucie Republican primary. Cannon, the owner of several St. Lucie adult arcades, decided to join the race after Gov. Rick Scott’s crackdown on arcade businesses during the 2013 legislative session.
