After the first quarter of 2013, Rep. Carl Zimmerman, D-Dunedin, faces Chris Sprowls, a serious Republican challenger for the District 65 House seat, as they set their eyes on 2014.
While he had run against Peter Nehr before and came close to beating him in 2006 and 2008, Zimmerman finally defeated the Republican incumbent in 2012 after racy photos of Nehr surfaced on the Internet. Despite his win in November, Zimmerman now ranks as one of the Republicans top targets for 2014.
On paper, Zimmermans Pinellas County district should be a Republican bastion in the Tampa Bay region, with 42 percent of voters registered with the GOP while 32 percent are Democrats. In 2010, Rick Scott took 50 percent of the vote in this district; Alex Sink claimed 45 percent.
But with more than a quarter of voters in the district -- 26 percent -- registered as independents or with other parties, Democrats have a chance to win this seat as Zimmermans victory in 2012 clearly shows. He took 53 percent in November while Nehr pulled 47 percent.
But Zimmerman had a united party behind him. Despite being an incumbent, Nehr, on the other hand, faced three primary challengers -- Marg Baker, Tony Perfetti and Philip Tropea. Nehr went on to win the primary in August with 53 percent, a sign of weakness for such an established incumbent taking on a field of poorly financed challengers.
One Republican who took a pass at taking Nehr on in the 2012 primaries was Sprowls. Despite first jumping into the race against Nehr, Sprowls quickly headed to the sidelines to focus on running in 2014, when Nehr would face term limits.
Sprowls has an impressive background despite not yet celebrating his 30th birthday. The son of a New York homicide detective, Sprowls was raised in the Tampa Bay area. In high school, he was diagnosed with cancer. After chemotherapy he headed to the University of South Florida and, eventually, Stetson Law School. During his time in law school, he was elected to the American Bar Associations House of Delegates and served as national chairman of the ABAs Law Student Division.
Sprowls later served as an assistant state attorney, prosecuting cases in Pasco and Pinellas counties. His last assignment was serving as a special prosecutor in the Gang Unit of the state attorneys office, once again focusing on Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Restricted by law from raising funds during session, Zimmerman still pulled in $9,500 in the first quarter of 2013 and spent less than $300 from that. Sprowls was not too far behind him, raising $7,300 during the same period. Having kept most of his funds from his aborted 2012 bid, Sprowls has more than $32,000 on hand as he looks toward 2014.
While 2014 is still a way off, this is already shaping up as one of the most competitive legislative battles in Florida.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News.
