Ryan Ray
Former writer for the Florida Squeeze and other liberal blogs Dave Trotter announced his candidacy to challenge Rep. Eric Eisnaugle for House District 44, in the Orlando area on Wednesday.
Trotter made the quixotic announcement from Montreal – “(yes, that Montréal, located in Canada, a foreign country)” he added – in an attempt to highlight perceived problems with the state Democratic Party’s strategy, long the object of his ire as a one-time journo and operative.
“The third and the most pressing reason I am running is because the Florida Democratic Party is not running a candidate in this race,” Trotter said. “That, in itself, is a mistake, as Democratic voters should always have a candidate to represent them on the federal, state, and local ballot, especially with only six months until the qualification period ends.”
Trotter argued that as the national GOP becomes more “radicalized,” local Democrats could gain electoral windfalls come November.
“The impact of the Democratic coattails could be earth-shattering, regardless if local candidates actively campaign for the office they seek or not. However, the Florida Democratic Party has only fielded candidates in 64 of the 120 Florida House seats,” Trotter said.
Trotter, once a leading liberal Florida map analyst until Matt Isbell cornered that market, reasoned that even with Eisnaugle’s tremendous war chest and political operation – and the difficulty holding such a GOP-leaning seat would present in 2018 midterms – Democrats are remiss if they fail to run a candidate in HD 44.
“I am in this race to promote the idea that the Florida Democratic Party needs to run candidates in every single race, no matter if it is or is not likely that they will win. Fielding candidates and paying filing fees is an insignificant cost for the Florida Democratic Party to pay,” Trotter said. “In addition, fielding candidates in all seats puts financial restrictions on the Republican Party of Florida and their candidates’ ability to transfer funds from one race to another.”
According to Academia.edu, Trotter is a graduate student in political science at McGill University in Quebec.
The mercurial Trotter wrote about his “conversion to conservatism” in November 2014, citing a dislike for unions, left-wing protest culture, and Democratic fiscal policy.
Trotter was once an acolyte of the left-leaning Orlando circle surrounding former state Rep. and current Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph and his wife Susannah Randolph, a former Alan Grayson congressional staff member who’s running to replace him in the U.S. House.
