Democrat Bernie Fensterwald taking second shot at going to Tallahassee

Fensterwald

Democrat Bernie Fensterwald, a Dunedin retiree who lost a challenge to Chris Sprowls in the House District 65 race in North Pinellas County last November by more than 30 percentage points, has filed once again to run for the Legislature.

This time Fensterwald is gunning for the state Senate District 16 seat in north Pinellas being vacated by a term-limited Jack Latvala. The only other candidate to file so far for the open seat is former GOP state representative and Clearwater City Commissioner Ed Hooper.

Fensterwald is a multi-millionaire, but he chose to barely tap into his considerable resources in his losing bid against Sprowls last year, raising a total of less than $35,000. 

Sprowls, by contrast, raised more than $472, 400, more than ten times Fensterwald’s total.

Then again, Fensterwald thinks too much is made about fundraising, saying last year that it’s a subject that “political blogs in our state are obsessed about.”

He’s an advocate for a strong environment. On climate changehe says the longer the state waits to take action, “the harder on solutions and their impact will be.”

On guns, Fensterwald supports extending background checks to all gun purchases in order to help keep firearms away from persons who should not have them, and supports a ban on the sale of assault weapons in Florida.

Mitch Perry

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served five years as political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. Mitch also was assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley and is a San Francisco native who has lived in Tampa since 2000. Mitch can be reached at [email protected].



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