With Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Ft. Lauderdale, leaving her seat to run for the state Senate, an intriguing contest is shaping up in House District 91.
District 91 stretches along the coastline of Broward County and into the southeastern corner of Palm Beach County, taking in parts of Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach. The district includes Port Everglades and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
While the district is Republican-leaning -- and there are three serious candidates for the GOP nomination -- there is also a strong Democratic candidate in the race.
David Maymon, an attorney who founded Advocate Home Care to work with patients recently discharged from the hospital, has put together an impressive campaign for the Republican nomination. Maymon has won the endorsements of Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, Coral Springs Commissioners Tom Powers and Vince Boccard and the Florida Health Care Association. Maymon has also accumulated a substantial warchest, having raised more than $114,000 in donations, more than $61,000 loaned to the campaign and almost $1,200 through in-kind donations.
Weve done well with fundraising but we have done better with the grassroots, said Maymon on Friday.
Maymon said his campaign has knocked on the doors of 5,000 houses across the district. The Maymon campaign made the ballot by petition.
But he faces serious competition in the Republican primary.
Fort Lauderdale native George Moraitis, an attorney who served as a naval officer, also made the ballot by petition. While Moraitis has not been in the campaign as long as Maymon, he has had impressive fundraising-raising: almost $59,000, relying on $15,000 in loans and tapping into almost $1,300 worth of in-kind donations.
Moraitis is running as a fiscal conservative and pushing to attract new jobs in the district, calling for improvements of Port Everglades.
Yomin Postelnik, a businessman and community activist, is also running for the seat. Postelnik is campaigning for education reform.
Our schools are failing, said Postelnik. We need to teach financial literacy so kids can understand the value of a dollar.
Postelnik is also calling for capping property taxes, more security against terrorism and more inspections of boats and vessels. When asked if this would have any impact to Floridas maritime shipping trade, Postelnik said the increased security would not lead to any additional fees.
Postelniks campaign has raised $5,728 as of the end of the first quarter of 2010. The campaign has been aided by $17,650 in loans and more than $8,000 of in-kind donations. On Friday, Postelnik said. Were waging a ground war, a grassroots campaign.
Barbara Stern, the daughter of powerful lobbyist and political consultant Judy Stern, is an attorney based out of Fort Lauderdale and a former Republican now running for the seat as a Democrat. She explained the party switch on Friday as the result of being disillusioned by Republican rule in Florida.
Democrats have not had control of the state of Florida since 1996, she said, noting that all fees and taxes since then have come from Republican-controlled Legislatures.
Besides challenging Republican claims to fiscal conservatism, Stern is also supporting education and opposing offshore oil drilling in her campaign.
Lack of funding for education is a concern, especially in this district, she said.
She also said that drilling is a major concern that will impact the district on both the environment and the economy. Noting that she was a participant in Hands Across the Sand to oppose further drilling, Stern said, I was proud to be out there for the event.
Stern has raised more than $53,000 in donations, $1,000 in loans and almost $1,700 through in-kind donations. She said her campaign will be launching a website in the immediate future.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or (850) 727-0859.
