Bobby Payne draws opposition in HD 19

GOP state Rep. Bobby Payne, whose district encompasses parts of Union, Clay, Bradford, and Putnam Counties, has drawn  both primary and general election opposition in recent days.

Green Cove Springs Republican Boyce Royal filed on July 31 to run against Payne in the GOP primary.

Royal is a real estate agent by trade.

The winner of that primary will go on to face a Libertarian, Ryan Russell Ramsey, in the general election.

Payne, a Palatka native, has just under $23,000 on hand after a $6,500 July comprised of donations from Jacksonville’s power elite — Peter Rummell, the Fiorentino Group, Jacksonville Kennel Club, and so on.

Expect that war chest to grow.

Payne, despite being a rookie legislator, will be a tough out; he has a strong working relationship with Sen. Rob Bradley and Rep. Travis Cummings of the Clay Delegation, and with Gov. Rick Scott.

In the GOP primary in 2016, Payne faced tough competition in former RPOF Chair Leslie Dougher and Katherine Van Zant, the wife of then incumbent Charles Van Zant.

Payne won his native Putnam with 55 percent of the vote, but he held his own — and then some — elsewhere. He got 47 percent of the vote in Union, 31 percent in Clay (beating out Van Zant), and 35 percent in Bradford, coming within two points of Van Zant … who was up 40 points in Bradford in that poll from the spring.