Drew Wilson
House District 5 added a third candidate last week, and the way things are shaping up voters will have their pick of representatives past and present on Election Day.
Former Rep. Jamey Westbrook, who runs a well-drilling business, filed for the seat Friday as a no-party candidate, joining Republican Rep. Bev Kilmer and incumbent Republican Rep. Brad Drake.
Each of the three candidates in the race can say they have experience representing the area: Drake himself carried the “former representative” moniker in the 2014 election that brought him back to the Legislature.
He was elected to the House in the two cycles leading up to the 2012 redistricting session, but stepped aside after the new map put him and former Rep. Marti Coley into the same district.
Westbrook’s tenure in the House isn’t as fresh, and his exit wasn’t as noble.
He was elected to his one and only House term in 1996, when he was a member of the Democratic Party. During his first re-election campaign, he faced federal charges for inflating repair quotes through his business, and though the charges were later dropped, he ended up losing out to none other than Kilmer by 805 votes.
The close call in 1998 wasn’t his last campaign, though. In the 2012 cycle, Westbrook campaigned for the District 7 seat but ended up taking third place in a four-way primary that rocketed Monticello Republican Rep. Halsey Beshears into office.
No matter the history, Westbrook has his work cut out for him. District 5 covers Holmes, Jackson, Walton and Washington counties, as well as a chunk of Bay County, and tends to lean toward GOP candidates.
The money race is in full swing, too. Through September, Drake had more than $50,000 in cash on-hand for his re-election campaign. Kilmer, who filed for the seat in late August, had about $4,500 on-hand through the end of October.
