Mitch Perry
Eric Lynn is in a very unusual place. The first-time candidate is in fact the only candidate in the race to succeed David Jolly in the CD 13 congressional race that will take place next year.
That’s likely to change at some point later this year, once the Florida Supreme Court signs off and the litigation ends in the redistricting of the district, which is scheduled to be completed at the legislative level this Friday.
Fellow Democrat Charlie Crist is expected to enter the contest, making the 37-year-old Lynn an immediate underdog, even though he’s had a substantial head start in raising money and continue to work on collecting grassroots support in the Pinellas County congressional district.
Without any challengers from either party getting into the race just yet, Lynn needs to make news on occasion, just to keep himself in the media spotlight.
He did so on Wednesday, issuing out a statement in response to the Tampa Bay Times investigation about the use of federal dollars for poor children and the overall quality of education students are receiving in five predominantly black elementary schools in South St. Petersburg.
“As a product of Pinellas County schools and a graduate of St. Pete High, I’m appalled by an education system that doesn’t prepare all of our kids – not just the privileged – to compete in a global economy,” he said. “It is unacceptable, and in Congress I will fight hard to improve funding for all of our schools, the quality of every Pinellas classroom, and each student’s chance to succeed.”
On Thursday, Lynn elaborated, saying that he was deeply disturbed by the report, and noted that while the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools, it wasn’t until 1972 that the Pinellas School Board voted to desegregate schools countywide.
“I think that’s completely unacceptable for any schools to be funded at a different level they all should have been funded…throughout the entire County,” he says.
The lead in the Times report explicitly put the blame on the Pinellas County School Board, writing that they turned the five schools in question into some of the worst in the state, by abandoning integration and breaking promises of more funding and resources.
“I think we have failed our kids, and I’m not here to point fingers, at any particular people,” Lynn says. “What I know is that there was a plan put in place in 2007, and it sounds like that plan was not implemented in the way they thought that it was going to, so, from that perspective, whether it was an economic downturn, recession, whatever term you want to use, there needed to be equal funding, and certainly funding at the same level, if not at higher levels for schools that were having difficulty and failing.”
Shifting gears, when Congress returns after their August recess next month, every member of the House and Senate will commit to one of their most important votes of their political career when they are asked to weigh in on the Iran nuclear deal.
CD 13 GOP incumbent Jolly opposes the plan, and in fact there isn’t any pressure on any Republicans in the House or Senate to support it. That’s not the case when it comes to Democrats, many of whom remain torn between wanting to support their president, who desperately wants and needs their support, and their own independent view of whether the deal makes the Middle East safer over the next 10-15 years.
Lynn worked in the Obama Defense Department from the president’s first day in office up until last year. Though he doesn’t have a vote in the matter, he knows as a candidate it’s important to know how he would vote. He says he’s still getting all the details.
“We had a series of meetings at the Pentagon up in Washington,” he says. “Talking to my former colleagues and national security experts about the deal, and I’m still getting all the full information about how the deal will be implemented.”
Lynn says that the Supreme Court ruling on redistricting and the subsequent announcement that Jolly would not be running for reelection has helped fundraising.
Things will certainly change once the new district boundaries are finalized. But until then, Lynn will continue to make the most of the fact that he’s the only person indicating that he wants to run represent the people of CD 13, wherever that ultimately ends up being.
