Blaise Ingoglia draws Democratic challenger in HD 35

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia has drawn a Democratic challenger for his District 35 seat in the Florida House.

Ramon Gutierrez of Spring Lake filed Tuesday to run for the Hernando County seat, and is so far the only other candidate in the race.

Gutierrez, who was born in Havana, Cuba, works in real estate and has also run a restaurant and held jobs as a stockbroker, insurance broker and mortgage broker. He told the Tampa Bay Times he’s running for the seat because he sees it as “a great opportunity to help people.”

HD 35 leans toward GOP candidates, though Republicans don’t carry an insurmountable advantage in the district. Voter registration statistics from the 2014 cycle show about 43,000 registered Republicans in the district, compared with 40,000 for Democrats. The district has an additional 25,000 voters who are not members of a major party.

Ingoglia had about $52,000 on hand in his campaign account through the end of January, and his position as RPOF chairman would make it easy for him to draw more money into the race if any candidate comes within striking distance.

Gutierrez’s first campaign finance report, which will only cover the final week of February, is due March 10.