Republican voters in Florida's House District 73 are likely to be served by youth and political inexperience when they go to the polls Tuesday.
Of the four candidates battling in the Republican primary to replace Rep. Nicholas Thompson, R-Fort Myers, all fall between the ages of 29 and 40 and none has held elected office.
At 29, Matt Caldwell, a manager for a real estate appraisal firm, is the youngest candidate in the primary, but he sees his age as a plus. Calling upon his history degree from Florida Gulf Coast University, he pointed to local and national representatives who served well despite their youth.
"Keith Arnold was elected to this district seat when he was 23 (in 1982). Our Founding Fathers, some of them were 32 and 33 when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. There's a history where we've seen people are capable of having the temperament for public service by the time they reach their 20s," Caldwell said.
Caldwell's closest opponent by age is Jason Moon, age 30. Moon recently used negative robocalls in the district to attack Caldwell for accepting money from U.S. Sugar.
State records show U.S. Sugar donated $500 directly to Caldwell's campaign, and donations from its related companies make up about 10 percent of the $33,000 that Caldwell has raised. Caldwell said he agrees with the state's proposed land purchase of 28,000 acres for $197 million to restore part of the Everglades as a way to save money in the long run.
"I would say the deal is palatable. It gets us down the road to Everglades restoration without having to go into debt," Caldwell said.
Moon, who has raised more than $147,000 --$20,000 of which is the most of his Republican opponents --did not return calls Friday.
The robocalls also criticized John Schultz, the oldest Republican candidate at age 40, for taking donations from special interests.
Schultz, who has 19 years of experience with the Florida Highway Patrol, the last three of which were spent on Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp's security detail, said his donor list consists mainly of Lee County voters. State records show he has raised nearly $43,000 from 219 different contributors.
In a district that has 13 percent unemployment and was part of the metro area that had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation in 2009, all the candidates know the importance of turning the economy around.
Deanna Casalino, a 36-year-old real estate agent, said the glut of foreclosures and the consequent backlog in the system is thwarting the market's potential.
"What we need to do is get some of those foreclosures off the books and through the system a little bit faster," she said.
Casalino is also a council member of the Florida Screen Actors Guild, and said she would work to offer tax incentives to lure TV and film production crews to her district.
"Film and television is an instant stimulus. There are so many industries that would benefit from movie and television production," Casalino said.
Schultz stressed regional and statewide cooperation in creating jobs, but also thinks Lee County needs to focus on tourism and private-sector jobs.
"In my experience I've traveled the state, I've seen what's happening. I think you need to have that statewide mentality," Schultz said. "We need to do a better job of trying to get businesses from other parts of the state, from other parts of the world to move here," he added.
The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face Democrat Cole Peacock and Tea Party candidate Raul Ismael Pantoja Rodriguez in the general election.
Gray Rohrer, who wrote this story "special to Sunshine State News," lives in Satellite Beach.
