The days following quarterly campaign finance reporting is often popular timing for new candidates to announce their runs, and this week was no different. Four candidates filed paperwork over the last week to run for House seats in 2014.
In House District 3, Laurel Hill Republican Jamie Tabisz-Smith filed paperwork to challenge incumbent Rep. Doug Broxson who was first elected to the House in 2010 when he raised a total of $266,149 to win a four person Republican primary with 45 percent of the vote. In 2012, Broxson won HD 3, having raised just about the same as in his first run. Tabisz-Smith runs Liberty Life News.
Panama City Democrat Ryan Singleton opened a campaign account to run in House District 6 which is being vacated by State Rep. Jimmy Patronis. Singleton is the sixth person and the second Democrat to file paperwork in the district. Republican Melissa Hagan is the only among them to have raised funds in the first half of this year.
House District 94 has two new candidates. Leyoyd L. Williams opened a campaign account for the seat currently held by Minority Leader Perry Thurston who will be term-limited. And unlike Thurston, it looks like Williams lives squarely within the district — he currently serves as a commissioner in the city of Lauderdale Lakes. Democrat Jimmy B. Witherspoon has also filed for HD 94.
In House District 114, Coral Gables Democrat Daisy Baez filed paperwork to take on incumbent Republican Erik Fresen who is seeking another term. To date, Fresen has raised $42,750 giving him a strong head start against Baez and Republican Amory Bodin who has also filed to run for this seat.
