Tea Party enthusiast Marsha Blackburn endorses Mary Thomas in Florida’s CD 2
Mary Thomas is up for a Pinellas-Pasco judgeship.

Mary Thomas

Mary Thomas has secured another conservative woman’s backing in her bid for the Republican nomination in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District.

The endorsement came from U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican associated with the tea party movement.

“The U.S. House needs more conservative women, more moms, and more energized Christians like Mary,” Blackburn said.

“I know firsthand how hard it is to take on and beat the good old boys,” Blackburn said in a written statement released Friday. “It takes a conservative fighter like Mary Thomas to do it. Today I am lending my support to Mary to finish the fight and win one for the conservative movement on Tuesday.”

Thomas is in a three-way race in Tuesday’s primary in the GOP-leaning Panhandle district with urologist Neal Dunn and Ken Sukhia, a former federal prosecutor.

Thomas has spent much of the campaign competing for the mantle of true conservative, and trading accusations with Dunn over connections to former Gov. Charlie Crist — a conservative bête noir since he switched to the Democratic Party.

Thomas served as assistant general counsel of the Florida Department of Community Affairs under Crist. More recently, she has been general counsel to the state Department of Elder Affairs under Gov. Rick Scott.

Dunn has long been active in Republican circles but made a $1,000 donation to Crist in September 2009, before Crist’s apostasy.

Thomas also lists endorsements from the Club for Growth, Phyllis Schlafly and the Eagle Forum, the Susan B. Anthony List, Concerned Women for America, the House Freedom Caucus’ fundraising arm, Freedom Works PAC, the Tea Party Express, Catholic Voice, and the National Association for Gun Rights.

Michael Moline

Michael Moline is a former assistant managing editor of The National Law Journal and managing editor of the San Francisco Daily Journal. Previously, he reported on politics and the courts in Tallahassee for United Press International. He is a graduate of Florida State University, where he served as editor of the Florida Flambeau. His family’s roots in Jackson County date back many generations.


One comment

  • Concerned 2d District Voter

    August 29, 2016 at 9:45 am

    More out of state people with no knowledge of District 2 and clearly, no knowledge of Mary’s history of non-accomplishment.

Comments are closed.


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