Frank TorresTitusville Republican state Rep. Tom Goodson announced this morning that he will be running for District 51 in 2016, instead of the District 50 seat he’s currently in. He will be running to succeed House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, the Republican from Merritt Island.
“I look forward to moving back to my home in Rockledge,” Goodson said in a statement. “If given the opportunity, I would be honored to represent central Brevard for the last two years in which I am eligible to serve. In the meantime, I will remain a resident of and represent District 50 in the Florida House until the end of my current term, which concludes on November 8, 2016.”
The announcement ends speculation that Goodson would run for State Senate in District 13 to replace Orlando Republican Andy Gardiner, the current Senate President. Goodson established a PAC called Paving Florida’s Future, which fueled rumors he would be fundraising aggressively for that seat.
This opens up Goodson’s District 50 seat, which stretches into Orange County. So far, only Tiffany Shavonne Dziekan has filed as an NPA.
Republican Chadwick Hardee told the Orlando Political Observer earlier this month that he would run for the seat if Goodson did not. Democrat and public educator Sean Ashby, who ran against Goodson in 2012, is another possibility.
