Jamie Carroll Shepard, the president of the Bay County League of Women Voters, is jumping into the race for the Florida House seat currently held by Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City.
With Patronis facing term limits in 2014, a crowd of Republicans has already lined up to run for the House seat which represents parts of Bay County. Shepard filed on Thursday to run as a Democrat.
Speaking with Sunshine State News on Friday, Shepard said she planned to focus on natural resource issues, transportation and education. She said she supports more local control of schools and supports maintaining current education funding.
Giving local school boards as much authority as they need to determine what happens in their district is imperative, Shepard told Sunshine State News.
While she plans to resign her position at a meeting next week, Shepard called the League of Women voters a beloved organization and inspiration as she enters the political arena.
She also called for more transparency and ethics in Tallahassee. Legislators have to be held by the same principles and rules of law as regular citizens, Shepard said, pointing to the recent controversy over a state trooper being fired after giving Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, a break over a speeding ticket.
Despite time in California where she worked as a high school teacher and was active with the League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County, Shepard has roots in Bay County where she lived during the 1980s and 1990s. She ran an advertising agency in Bay County for 20 years and served on the Parker Planning Commission and as a volunteer with city government on transportation. Shepard also worked with Gulf Coast Community College -- now Gulf Coast State College -- on development.
As the campaign progresses, Shepard said she intends to listen to whats on the mind of voters across the district and would rather listen to them than lobbyists. Id rather rely on local expertise, she said. I want to reach out to people whose lives are impacted, people whose businesses are impacted, by policies.
Shepard said running as a Democrat in the Republican-leaning district would be a challenge but insisted reaching out to voters can help her be competitive in 2014.
I dont come with a party agenda, she said. Im interested in what matters to Bay County.
Shepard had warm words for some Panhandle Republicans, including Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, Patronis and House Speaker Pro Tempore Marti Coley, R-Marianna. Despite being on the other side of the aisle, Shepard said she plans to work with them if she is elected. The fact theyre Republicans doesnt bar me from seeking wise counsel, she told Sunshine State News.
An active member of both the Panama Beach and Bay County chambers of commerce, Shepard also worked with the Bay County Small Business Incubator and she supports some measures backed by the business community. Shepard praised the manufacturing sales tax exemption supported by Gov. Rick Scott and passed earlier this year as good for growth and job creation.
Bay County is a tough area for Democrats. Mitt Romney took 71 percent there in November and, while he was trounced across the state by Bill Nelson in the Senate race, Connie Mack pulled almost 61percent in Bay County in 2012.
Three Republicans have already entered the race: Panama City attorney and engineer Mark Anderson who teaches at Florida State; businesswoman Melissa Hagan who currently serves as Gulf Coast State Colleges director of development; and radio show host Brian Rust. Shepard is the first Democrat to enter the contest.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722.
