With House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, facing term limits in 2014, two candidates have emerged to run in the Republican primary to replace him -- and Republican leaders in the district, which represents parts of Pasco County, assured Sunshine State News on Wednesday that there would be more candidates.
So far, telecommunications expert Christopher Scott Erwin and community activist and chaplain Minerva Diaz have filed to run for the seat, but Republicans in the district expect a field of other candidates to emerge.
This race will be hotly contested, a Pasco County Republican leader told Sunshine State News on Wednesday, before adding that other candidates beside the two already in the race will be the GOPs candidate. Expect other candidates to run, the Republican leader said though no names were provided. The Republican leader said with the death of longtime Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Olson on June 26, some potential House candidates are looking at entering that race or gunning for the seats on the County Commission.
A prominent Democratic activist in the district told Sunshine State News one or two candidates will run for that partys nomination and are already looking at fundraising plans but refused to identify the potential candidates.
In the meantime, Erwin and Diaz are taking their first steps to running for the House seat Weatherford has held since being elected in 2006.
Erwin identified himself to Sunshine State News as a stout conservative on Wednesday. A Florida native with roots in the area, Erwin served in the Army at the end of the Cold War, witnessing the Berlin Walls collapse. He later served in the first Gulf War. After almost two decades in the telecommunications industry, Erwin decided to run for office for the first time.
Speaking to Sunshine State News, Erwin stressed his conservatism, pledging to fight for lowering taxes and reducing spending if elected. Erwin also pledged to defend Second Amendment rights.
Erwin said he would fight for conservation if elected and for more opportunities for hunting and fishing. Ive lived here all my life and Ive seen my hunting and fishing grounds disappear, he said.
After entering the race in the middle of February, Erwin raised only $500 between then and March 31. Erwin said he did not do much fundraising in the second quarter of 2013, which ended on Sunday, but insisted he had yet to really start his campaign. He said his campaign will become active in the weeks to come.
Diaz, another first-time candidate, jumped in the race on Tuesday. Speaking to Sunshine State News on Wednesday, Diaz promised to run a grassroots campaign.
A veteran of the Air Force and a community activist, Diaz currently is an adjunct professor at Pasco Hernando Community College where she teaches religion classes and a chaplain in the Tampa Division of Florida Hospital and with the Pasco County sheriff's office.
Diaz told Sunshine State News on Wednesday that her religious background played an important role in why she is running for office. Im running for the Florida House because Im a woman of faith, she said.
Praising Pasco Countys residents for having great hearts, Diaz said, if elected, she would fight for economic development, including strengthening the middle class, in Tallahassee. Diaz also plans, if elected, to focus on aiding law enforcement and assisting the mentally ill. While this is her first bid for elected office, Diaz said she had the heart and the passion needed to represent the district in Tallahassee.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722.
