State Senate 23 Candidates Try To Out-Conservative Each Other

WUSF | By Steve Newborn

Published August 26, 2016 at 2:11 AM EDT

Four of the candidates appeared during a recent forum at USF Sarasota-Manatee

One of the most hotly contested races is for the newly redrawn state Senate District 23 seat held by NancyDetert. It's been shifted south to include Sarasota and parts of coastal Charlotte counties. The five Republicans vying for the seat during Tuesday's primary are seemingly trying to out-conservative each other.

https://youtu.be/osxnzIhtoLc?t=214

Detert decided to run for Sarasota County Commission, and after an uncontested race, will join that board in November. Political analyst William March said the opening is drawing candidates like a moth to the flame:

"What you have there now is sort of a monster primary," he said, "with two current sitting state House members, Ray Pilon and Greg Steube, a former county commissioner, Nora Patterson, a former state Representative, Doug Holder, and a businessman, Rick Levine - all in the Republican primary."

And some of that energy is flowing in particular between Holder and Steube - including an ad from an advocacy group called "Floridians for Ethics and Truth in Politics" that's airing in the Sarasota television market.

https://youtu.be/-TZ0w3apwqo

March said it used to be rare to have TV ads for a state Senate race - but that's changing.

"What's happening is, as Florida grows, and the state Senate districts get larger and larger in population, they become bigger and bigger seats," he said. "And it's not at all unusual now to spend a million dollars on a state Senate race in Florida."

The rivalry between state Representatives Steube and Holder has played out in other television ads and campaign mailers, with each claiming they're more conservative than each other. Both accused each other of being "soft" on undocumented immigrants.

During a recent forum in Punta Gorda, Holder was warmly received by saying he wants to ban “sanctuary cities” in Florida.

Steube, who represents eastern Manatee and northeastern Sarasota County, is brandishing his own conservative credentials.

"I'm supported by the NRA for my advocacy of the Second Amendment, I'm supported by the Right For Life PAC because of my advocacy for life and I'm also endorsed by the PBA for my strong support of the law enforcement community," he said.

He spoke during a debate held recently at USF Sarasota-Manatee that was covered by Manatee Educational Television. Holder was unable to attend the forum.

Pilon, who represents northern Sarasota County in the House, said he's no slouch when it comes to immigration.

"I was on a committee that passed an E-Verify bill out of committee when I first got there in 2010. It didn't go anyplace. There's no reason why we can't have it," he said. "And if we get a more conservative president in Washington, I think it'll make it much easier for us at the Florida level to empower our police agencies."

The five Republicans vying to run in November are almost uniformly fiscal conservatives. Former Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson - who has been endorsed by Nancy Detert - touted her tax-cutting credentials.

"If I had a magic wand, I would eliminate all corporate income tax tomorrow, and I would also the other tax that my fellow candidates have discussed, which is the six percent on commercial rentals," she said.

But she also tempered her remarks, saying state spending has been cut too much on mental health and children's health programs.

Businessman Rick Levine is chairman of the Board and CEO of Sarasota-based Potomac Financial Corporation. He wants to eliminate the state's corporate tax credit scholarship program, which gives tax breaks to companies giving money to send low-income students to private schools.

"If a parent or a grandparent wants to send their child to a private school or to a parochial school, they should pay for it themselves. I don't want any public money coming from taxation going to any program for private school," he said during the debate.

The winner of Tuesday's primary will face off against the winner of the Democratic primary. That will be either New College of Florida professor Frank Alcock or recent University of South Florida graduate Frank Cirillo.