State House Candidates
I have been trying to get caught up on the national race between McCain and Obama, and I haven’t had much new political news. So I have been away from this blog for over two weeks, except to add a few new links in the sidebar. Three of those links belong to State House candidates for Districts 11 and 23. Both of these Districts intersect Alachua County at some point, so check your voter ID to see which one is relevant to you.
In District 11 we have Democrat incumbent Debbie Boyd versus Republican challenger Elizabeth Porter. Boyd upset favorite David Pope in 2006 running as a conservative “blue dog” Democrat. Those were her own words. She is a former Newberry City Commissioner who worked for the University of Florida as a Reaserch Technition and Laboratory Manager for their Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. Ms. Porter is a Columbia County Commissioner and was formerly in management with Nestle, Proctor and Gamble, and Shering- Plough Pharmaceuticals. A casual reading of their websites shows that they are fighting for similar things, and have similar views. For Ms. Porter to prevail, she will actually have to have some grievances. I hope to learn more about this race next weekend at the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum at Savannah Grand on the 300 block of N. Main Street from 10am-2pm.
In District 23 we have Democrat incumbent Chuck Chestnut versus Republican Bernie DeCastro. Chestnut has no campaign website, and I found no stump speech in the Sun, so there is no link for his information. I could have used his official State Rep page, but I thought it would be wrong to use a publicly funded website in a campaign. I think incumbency is a big enough advantage without piling on. DeCastro is a former felon who was convicted on drug charges over 20 years ago. He has since become an ordained minsiter and runs a faith-based training center to help prison inmates get work experience.
The Sun has an article about these candidates here, but stay tuned to this site for complete coverage of the League of Women Voters Forum. Unlike the Sun, I have no limitations on space.
