Drew Wilson
Zephyrhills Republican Rep. Danny Burgess is primed for re-election in 2018, though it looks like he won’t skate by unopposed next year.
No-party candidate John Hayes filed for the Pasco County seat late last month and has since filed a waiver in lieu of a campaign finance report for the days his campaign account was open in November.
Hayes is listed as the president or registered agent for several companies operating in the Pasco County district according to records available through the Florida Division of Corporations.
Among them are Skydive City, JST Management and Tadpole Aviation.
Skydive City, in operation since 1990, bills itself as “one of the World’s Premiere Skydiving Centers” and caters to “skydivers and students from all of the continents.” The company is currently running a Christmas special where would-be skydivers can take book a tandem jump for $150.
House District 38 has a GOP lean, with about 6,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats, and was held by former House Speaker Will Weatherford before Burgess took it over in 2014.
In his first campaign, Burgess went unopposed in the Republican Primary before defeating Democrat Beverly Ledbetter with 60 percent of the vote on Election Day. Last year, he won re-election without opposition.
Through the end of November, Burgess had raised $91,190 toward his third-term bid and had just shy of $60,000 of that money on hand.
