A.G. Gancarski
House District 10, which extends from Baker County west past Live Oak, and the Georgia line out to White Springs, is the embodiment of a Blue Dog Democrat district. With 8,000 more Democrats than Republicans, yet a decidedly rural, conservative bent, this is Old Florida.
And there are two competitive primaries. Republican incumbent Elizabeth Porter takes on Carol Daugherty. And on the Democratic side, Rick Schutte and Jerry Bullard are fighting for the nomination.
These aren’t cash-intensive races. The leader in cash-on-hand, Porter, has about $30,000 left. And in terms of diversity, there wasn’t much either. As the forum began, there were nothing but white people in the audience. The district itself, meanwhile, is almost 70 percent white.
They spoke in alphabetical order.
Bullard, a Hamilton County native, is the son of a tobacco farmer.
He delivered a detailed biography, including educational and job history leading up to his position as “manager of all the scale facilities in the state of Florida.”
“I thought I was through with Tallahassee,” but after talking to his wife and praying about it, he jumped in.
“I would have a commonsense approach to government,” citing water issues as important.
“It’s a precious commodity for us … for ag and other areas,” Bullard said, pointing out that Jacksonville uses a lot of water.
Bullard also is a Blue Lives Matter guy, who will be a “voice” for law enforcement in Tallahassee.
Also, “this common core stuff isn’t working, folks.”
Although a Democrat, Bullard sounded like he could have won a Republican race in Jacksonville.
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Daugherty, a lightly financed candidate from High Springs, opened up by talking about her legally blind son.
“Both he and I graduated from college last April,” Daugherty said, thanking her community members and vowing “to come to your county and speak to those people you put in charge of your lives.”
Daugherty, devoted to springs, said “springs are like your liver.”
That is to say, they can be restored if they aren’t polluted or compromised, while drawing an extended metaphor between polluted springs and an alcohol-besotted liver.
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Porter, the incumbent, talked about sewer improvements and “cross-boundary legislation that prevents big counties like Duval County from sticking a well under the ground” and preventing “withdrawals” from rural county supply.
“I’m the chair of the higher ed and workforce committee,” Porter added, which positions her to make meaningful changes in the system “on the issues that plague our educational system.”
The solution: teacher “autonomy.”
Claiming to be the “most conservative candidate in the race,” Porter vowed to reintroduce a bill calling for extended penalties to those who “ambush” first responders if she gets two more years.
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Schutte (pronounced “Shooty”) talked about the pronunciation of his name.
He practices law in Jacksonville.
“As you see, I’m not dressed. I’m not one of those who puts on a suit and puts on airs,” Schutte said.
He presented himself as a man of the people, who nonetheless is tethered to his cell phone to deal with client problems.
He’s willing to drive to Baker County to meet with people, and he has to work on his birthday.
“And that really bothers me. I hate to work on my birthday.”
He gave biography.
“Because of a rift in my family, I dropped out of college,” he said, before talking about his experience in the Vietnam-era military.
“Even though I was a disabled vet, it didn’t hold me down. I believe in working, and I believe in working hard,” Schutte said, who went on to be a Metro-Dade street cop.
