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2016 State Legislative Campaign Coverage - page 5

Former lawmaker Bev Kilmer challenges Brad Drake for Panhandle House seat

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When Rep. Brad Drake agreed to step aside and allow Rep. Marti Coley to finish out her tenure in the House after 2011 redistricting, he probably figured her former HD 5 seat was all his for four terms. But Bev Kilmer has announced she will not extend Drake the same professional courtesy Coley received when she and Drake were drawn into the same district. Kilmer, a former fellow Republican state representative, filed paperwork to run for the deep-red Panhandle House seat on Wednesday, according to Division of Elections…

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Democratic strategist Steve Schale reaches across the aisle to support Ray Pilon in 2016

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Republican state Rep. Ray Pilon has found an unlikely ally in his 2016 House re-election campaign in Sarasota-based District 72: leading Democratic strategist Steve Schale. Schale appears on the host committee for an upcoming fundraiser for the third-term Republican lawmaker, according to an invitation obtained by FloridaPolitics.com. Schale cited Pilon’s stance this year in a major battle over Medicaid expansion in the statehouse as well as a personal rapport when explaining his across-the-aisle support. “Both Ray and his son Chad, who was an FJA board member…

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2016 House field continues to shape up in central Florida, Tallahassee

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It’s more than a year out from 2016 legislative elections, normally a quiet time when warring factions retreat to their camps and use the odd-numbered year to strategize and keep their powder dry. But with recent drama surrounding the race for the 2021-22 speakership, state party infighting involving sitting House Rep./RPOF Chairman Blaise Ingoglia and an imminent Senate map redraw likely to pit incumbents against one another as they vie to ascend to the upper chamber, things in the House are very much “on” in…

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Joseph Wilkinson, lone opponent to incumbent Jamie Grant in HD 64, withdraws from race

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Little-known political novice Joseph Wilkinson was never much of a threat to the incumbency of Republican state Rep. Jamie Grant of Tampa, but now he has completely removed himself from consideration by voters in HD 64 altogether. Wilkinson, also a Republican, had not reported raising any contributions. Grant, for his part, has raised $25 ahead of his 2016 re-election campaign. Grant has faced real primary heat in the past: local attorney Miriam Steinberg won the endorsement of the Tampa Bay Times and 41 percent of…

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First-time candidate Edward James tops $30k in HD 72 fundraising

in The Bay and the 'Burg by

Democrat Edward James III won’t hold yet his first official fundraiser until next week, but that hasn’t stopped him from raising about a thousand dollars a day since he entered the race last month. James has raised a total of $30,175 according to just-released campaign finance reports, an unusually high figure for a Democratic newcomer. A majority of that came through the New Direction Florida political committee, which backs James, including a check for $10,000 from Hugh Culverhouse, son of the former owner of the Tampa…

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Open seat race in state Rep. Alan Williams’ HD 8 heating up early

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The race to succeed term-limited state Rep. Alan Williams in House District 8 — which takes in part of Tallahassee, including the state Capitol — has attracted another Democratic hopeful in Clarence Jackson, former mayor of the Gadsden city of Gretna. Jackson, who mounted a brief run in 2014 when it appeared Williams would step away from the Legislature to pursue a seat on the Tallahassee City Commission, told WCTV he plans to file in July. Jackson gave way in deference…

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Amid legislative turnover, new House candidates reach for safe GOP seats

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As ever in the term limits era, the makeup of the Republican House majority is set to shift in terms of personnel, if not necessarily in degree of dominance. As the very House-inflected state Rep. Matt Gaetz seeks to take over his father state Sen. Don Gaetz‘s spot in the Legislature’s upper chamber, a Walton County commissioner has filed to replace him in his deeply conservative District 4 seat. Commissioner Wayne Harris filed paperwork to run on June 10, according to the Florida Division of Elections.…

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