Drew Wilson
Another Republican has filed to take over for House District 69 Rep. Kathleen Peters, who plans to leave the Legislature to run for Pinellas County Commission.
Jeremy Bailie joins Raymond Blacklidge and Chris Licata in the GOP primary for the seat, which covers parts of Pinellas County, including Gulfport, Madeira Beach, South Pasadena and Treasure Island.
Bailie is an associate attorney for Abbey, Adams, Byelick & Mueller LLP and is an alumnus of the Stetson University College of Law.
During the 2017 Legislative Session, Bailie testified in front of the House Health Quality Subcommittee about the implementation of the state’s medical marijuana amendment.
The Gulfport Republican is against medical marijuana edibles and warns that the situation in Florida could end up being similar to the opiate “pill mill” problem that AG Pam Bondi cracked down on when she took office.
Since Bailie filed his paperwork at the beginning of the month, his first campaign finance report will not be available until mid-October.
So far, Blacklidge leads the declared candidates in fundraising with nearly $60,000 raised through the end of August, including $5,500 in loans. He has about $43,000 of that money on hand.
Licata, a Navy veteran who originally filed for House District 62, hasn’t filed his August report yet and declared no contributions in July.
HD 69 has a Republican lean, though voter registrations between the two major parties are relatively close.
Peters won her 2012 contest against Democrat Josh Shulman 52-48, and her elections since have had even greater margins — she won 58-52 in 2014 and took 57 percent of the vote in 2016.
