2012 Florida House Races Heating Up

Some of the races for Florida House seats in 2012 have gotten more interesting in recent days.

Republican David Lee Bowman filed on Tuesday to run as a Republican against Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, one of the leading social conservatives in the Florida Legislature. Van Zant currently represents all of Putnam County and parts of Bradford, Clay, Lake, Marion and Volusia counties. It will be interesting to see if Van Zant, who is from Keystone Heights, will face Bowman who is from Ocklawaha after the Legislature goes through redistricting early next year. Van Zants fundraising so far in this election cycle has been unimpressive though he could not raise cash during the legislative session. He raised $6,100 and loaned his campaign $2,500 -- but he spent almost $5,000 of that.

Meanwhile. up in the Panhandle, a Democratic opponent has filed to run against Rep. Clay Ford, R-Gulf Breeze. Gloria Ann Wiggins of Pensacola has filed to run against Ford who currently represents parts of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. While Ford brought in more than $20,000 during the first quarter of 2011, he did no fundraising in the second quarter, despite spending more than $5,400.

Down in Pinellas County, it looks like Rep. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, will be in a two-front war. Democrat William Nobles filed to run against the Republican freshman back in May. On Tuesday, attorney Matthew Decell Weidner filed paperwork to run for the seat with no party affiliation. With more than $27,000 already raised and $3,500 loaned to his campaign so far, Brandes starts with a solid fundraising advantage.