A classic political battle is shaping up in Southwest Florida to win a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The candidates in District 76 have sharp differences on most issues.
District 76 was re-drawn for this year's election, and incumbent Republican Spencer Roach decided not to run again. The district includes North Fort Myers, the eastern part of Charlotte County, and all of DeSoto County.
Jim Blue is the Democratic candidate. He retired to Punta Gorda a few years ago after working as a TV news anchor, reporter and news director in several cities, mostly in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country.
"I represent change," Blue said. "I represent the needs of middle-class Floridians."
Vanessa Oliver is the Republican candidate. She grew up in Charlotte County, left to become a lawyer, then returned to raise her family. Currently she runs a private ambulance transport company headquartered in Charlotte County. Her father is Representative Michael Grant, who's retiring this year in another district. He has been majority leader in the Florida House of Representatives.
"I am vested in this community," Oliver said. "I want us to continue on this upward trajectory. I want that for the entire state of Florida."
Oliver and Blue agree that homeowners' insurance is too expensive. They differ on solutions. Oliver wants a task force to root out fraudulent insurance claims.
She explains a company recently convinced some of her neighbors a wind event had damaged their roofs:
"Every other house on the street soon put out roofing signs in the front yard," she said. "And insurance companies paid for a nonexistent wind event. This is causing escalating costs for all Floridians, and we have to root out that corruption."
Jim Blue said the root cause is that lobbyists run the Legislature, and that leads to skyrocketing insurance costs.
"Somebody with the best lobbyists, gets the goodies. Not the homeowners," he said. "I'd like to see more workshops and task forces to tackle this complex issue, with experts who don't have a dog in the fight, and who are not likely to profit from it."
Most voters say they're following the presidential race. The District 76 contest? Not so much.
Jim Blue is pro-choice, and says he favors Amendment 4 to guarantee a right to abortion.
Lisa Bean of Punta Gorda says that's why he may win her vote.
"I would say I would lean more to pro-choice, given that I think that is what America is about," Bean said.
Vanessa Oliver said she is pro-life and will vote no on 4. Mark Green said if she's the Republican, she'll get his vote.
"I don't differentiate between them," Green said of the candidates. "I just go straight Republican." He added that he intends to do that again in this election year.
On the money front, Oliver is out-raising Blue about three to one. A number of political action committees and business groups are giving to her campaign, but so are a lot of individuals. Blue is getting money almost entirely from individuals.
Blue said he wants lawmakers to solve the problems of real people, and forget about drag shows and culture war talking points.
"Let's put all this crazy, extreme agenda out," Blue said.
Republican Vanessa Oliver said she cares deeply about improving the lives of Floridians.
"I'm just going to work every single day to make Florida better for my children, and everybody else's," she said.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He also teaches journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University. He can be reached at mwalcher@wgcu.org