Drew Wilson
Two more candidates have filed for House District 21, setting up a four-way Republican Primary to replace Gainesville Rep. Keith Perry in the Alachua County seat.
Pharmacist Tim Rogers filed for the seat as a Republican on March 14, followed by school teacher Marihelen Wheeler, a Democrat, on March 17. The pair join Republicans Chuck Clemons and Wenda Lewis, both of whom filed in February, in the race for Perry’s seat.
Rogers is a longtime Gainesville resident who graduated from the University of Florida in 1975. He currently works for the university as a pharmacist in the veterinary hospital and has served as the president of the Florida Pharmacy Association since June 2015.
Rogers faces stiff competition in Clemons, a vice president at Santa Fe College, and Lewis, the CEO of family-owned Lewis Oil.
Both candidates filed for the seat ahead of Perry’s announcement he would run for the Florida Senate, and each managed to pull together big fundraising hauls in February.
Lewis had $134,900 on hand heading into March, including $100,000 in loans to her campaign, and Clemons was able to bring in just shy of $36,000 in contributions through the same date.
So far Wheeler is the only Democrat running for the seat, which leans Republican despite being home to more registered Democrats.
Perry won the district with nearly 57 percent of the vote against Democrat Andrew Morrey in 2012, and in 2014 he defeated Democrat Andrew Uman with 58 percent of the vote on Election Day.
Wheeler, a Westwood Middle School teacher, is likely aware of her odds, having run for congress against Republican U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho in 2014. Wheeler lost that election 65-to-32.
