Capitol gadfly David Serdar, who touted a Dennis Baxley connection, dies in cycling accident

David Serda and Sen. Dennis Baxley. Image via Facebook

Sen. Dennis Baxley said he was saddened to look over the death of vocal supporter David Serdar. The outspoken activist and former candidate died last month after a bicycling accident in Leesburg.

“I was heartbroken to see his departure in such a tragic way,” Baxley said.

But the death has Baxley focused on making sure families have the mental health services available to make reasonable decisions on care. Serdar, Baxley said, suffered from mental deterioration over the five years he knew him.

“He could be volatile but saw David as a symbol of what’s happening in society,” the Ocala Republican said.

Serdar, a political activist based in Fruitland Park, died on Oct. 19 while driving on Picciola Road in Lake County, according to Villages-News.com. He was a fixture of committee meetings during and before the last Legislative Session in Tallahassee.

He regularly wore a shirt promoting Rep. Fiona McFarland, a Sarasota Republican. “David Serdar was a proud Floridian who took an active role in his state’s governance,” McFarland said. “We will miss his voice in our process and his presence in our halls.”

Closer to home, Serdar last year briefly ran for the Lake County Water Authority. He regularly spoke at local government hearings. He could also regularly be seen driving around in a white van adorned with signs promoting former President Donald Trump.

He also regularly touted his admiration of Baxley, though the Senator said that relationship would occasionally be exaggerated.

“He would go places and say he ‘represented me,’ and I would get phone calls and have to explain he was not,” Baxley said. “He was a fan. But you had to appreciate he was loyal and committed. And he loved to talk.”

As he watched Serdar’s mental state deteriorate over time, Baxley said it brought him some pain in that it reminded him of his own father’s dementia before he passed. “You see people struggling with that stage of life, and that’s part of why I appreciated David,” he said.

Serdar lost his vehicle, the reason he was cycling on roads at night, and likely needed more oversight and care than he received. “It’s just going into treacherous waters,” Baxley said. “You want people to have the independence as long as they can before you have those difficult conversations to know what needed to come next.”