Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Matt Hudson came out on top in a straw poll Tuesday during a Marco Island legislative candidate forum.
The forum, hosted by the SWFL Citizens Alliance, was the first of three legislative candidate forums. Candidates for two of the three open legislative seats in Collier County participated in the forum.
In the Senate District 28 straw poll, Hudson received 67 percent support, while Kathleen Passidomo received 33 percent. Hudson and Passidomo are vying to replace Garrett Richter in the Florida Senate. Richter, a Naples Republican, can’t run for re-election again because of term limits.
First elected to the Florida House in 2007, Hudson, a Naples Republican, can’t run for re-election again because of term limits. Passidomo, also a Naples Republican, was first elected to the Florida House in 2010. She is foregoing a re-election bid in House District 106 to run for the state Senate.
No Democrat has filed to run in Senate District 28.
Naples Republican Bob Rommel and Lavigne Kirkpatrick are battling it out in the Republican primary to replace Passidomo. In the SWFL Citizens Alliance straw poll Tuesday, Rommel received 49 percent support compared to Kirkpatrick’s 42 percent.
The winner of the Aug. 30 primary will face Brandon Smith, a no party affiliate candidate, in November. Smith received 8 percent support in the straw poll.
Straw poll voters also weighed in on the most important issues facing the Legislature. Among the top concerns were local control of education, comprehensive water solution to Lake Okeechobee discharges, and restoring jobs and the Florida economy.
