Mia Jones Draws Republican Challenger for 2014

Republican activist Jon Mazzaferro, a commercial pilot, businessman and Army veteran, is looking to give voters on the First Coast a conservative alternative to Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville. On Thursday, Mazzaferro filed his paperwork to run against Jones in 2014.

While Jones lost out to Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, to be the House Democratic leader after the 2014 elections, she remains one of her partys more prominent politicians on the First Coast. Jones is the House Democratic leader pro tempore and she is the ranking Democrat on the Health and Human Services Committee and has a seat on the Appropriations Committee. Before being elected to the Florida House in 2008, Jones sat on the Jacksonville City Council.

Mazzaferro, who is married with two kids, has an uphill battle on his hands. Jones ran against Libertarian hopeful Jonathan Loesche in 2012 and won in a landslide, taking 79 percent of the vote. The last time Jones had a Republican opponent was in 2008 -- though the district has since been changed by redistricting. In 2008, Jones took 74 percent of the vote when she beat Republican Sarah Lovett to win the open House seat.

The Duval County district went heavily for Democrat Alex Sink back in 2010 when she took 64 percent there. Democrats make up 62 percent of the district while only 20 percent are Republicans.