Tristan Wood
Joel Rudman outraised his two opponents in the House District 3 race in April, bringing in almost $23,000 in the second month of his campaign.
The HD 3 seat, which represents portions of Santa Rosa County and Northern Okaloosa County, is open after Rep. Jayer Williamson in January announced he will not seek re-election. Currently, Rudman is running against Mariya Calkins and Robert Orth in the Republican Primary.
Rudman’s $22,800 April just edged out Calkins, who raised $21,110. While Calkins still holds an overall fundraising lead in the race, Rudman has outraised her 2-to-1 over the past two months while spending much less, giving the two candidates similar spending power in the months leading into the Aug. 23 Primary.
Calkins has brought in more than $180,000 since her campaign’s launch in January, but has spent over $40,000. Rudman has brought in over $144,000 in two months, and has spent about $8,000.
Orth is trailing the two candidates and has spent more than he raised. He has brought in $20,470 over the past three months, but has spent $21,813.48, leaving his campaign account in the red.
The winner of the GOP Primary will likely be HD 3’s next Representative, as the district is dark red and no Democratic challenger has registered to run.
Rudman, a family doctor based in Navarre for the last 17 years, became involved with politics through his advocacy against mask mandates and for removing masks from Santa Rosa County schools.
He told Florida Politics he has already “fought the mandates and cancel culture” as a doctor and would fight them in Tallahassee as a Representative.
“The people of my district understand this doctor didn’t get into politics, politics got into medicine. They want someone who will fight to protect their freedoms,” Rudman said.
