A.G. Gancarski
Move over, Amber Mariano. Another candidate is aiming to make history as the youngest ever member of the Florida House.
Democrat Benjamin Sandlin is answering the party’s call to run in House District 12, which crosses the St. Johns River in southern Duval County.
The tale of the tape appears lopsided between the 20-year-old University of North Florida student and his November opponent, aged 55: Rep. Wyman Duggan, a close ally of incoming Speaker Danny Perez.
As of Duggan’s most recent fundraising report, which runs through March, the incumbent raised more than $89,000 between his campaign account and the supportive Citizens For Building Florida’s Future political committee between Jan. 1 and Mar. 31, the last date for which the Division of Elections has records.
The political committee had nearly $455,000 on hand after bringing in $71,500 in Q1. Duggan also had more than $70,000 in hard money, after raising $17,550 in Q1 to his campaign account.
Sandlin? He’s raised $740.
Yet despite the financial disparity, Sandlin believes he has a story to tell, and a compelling argument against Duggan, based on the legislator’s support of a bill that ended civilian review boards for police that weren’t hand-picked by Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, and other bills moved by the GOP supermajority.
“The Legislature isn’t gonna wait for me to get older. They haven’t waited for me to get older to (pass) ‘Don’t Say Gay’ in schools, to demonize students, demonize public school teachers. They haven’t waited until I’m older to gut the public school system in favor of private school vouchers. They haven’t waited until older to crack down on voting rights,” Sandlin said.
“They don’t have much concern for my generation and they don’t seem to be hesitant in their actions. So I don’t see why I should have to be hesitant in mine. I see what I’m seeing and I think it’s wrong and I want to take a stand now.”
Sandlin, who was inspired to run for office by Rep. Angie Nixon saying that was a way to make changes during a meeting with her when he and others were in Tallahassee protesting permit less carry legislation, says his strategy for competing and “getting the word out” will be grassroots and shoe leather.
“If it’s by not going into communities and knocking on doors, hopefully, being able to recruit volunteers, anyone that’s willing to help with not just door knocking, but obviously fundraising, you know, money is important but it’s not everything,” Sandlin said.
Meanwhile, Sandlin recognizes that there are some issues with the top of the ticket this year.
Asked if he was voting for President Joe Biden’s re-election, he said he’d “rather not say,” but that he’s not going to “tell people how to vote.”
At the heart of his dissatisfaction: the President’s handling of campus protests against Israel.
“Students deserve to have their voices heard. And I think a lot of people are justifiably upset that the President has not clarified that they have a right to make their voice heard,” Sandlin said. “I think it’s absolutely fair to say that he’s let students down in that regard.”
17 comments
Hung Wiil
May 2, 2024 at 3:15 pm
The only question is if Sandlin makes it to the general election, how close to 35% will he get. He won’t admit to voting for Biden. Democrat losers
Old Geezer
May 2, 2024 at 3:38 pm
What am I always saying. Demos always attack their own. “Divide and don’t conquer” seems to be the motto. “Don’t show up” is the other one (because you got really pissed about one issue so you’re just gonna protest by sitting it out or throwing away your vote and literally hand over the election to the person you say you hate and all your principles are against, because you’re not happy about this thing over here)… R’s will run over grandma to get to the polls and vote for someone they despise in the name of PPParty loyalty–which comes before god, country, and even their own self interests. That, folks, is the difference. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer some healthy, heated debate (not the vitriol that substitutes for debate today), and even more prefer it when the 2 parties cancel each other out. But let’s be honest. Herding the demo vote is like nailing jello to a tree.
rick whitaker
May 2, 2024 at 6:22 pm
OLD GEEZER, you herd money grubers, you assist dems who are interested in service but see it differently. i don’t quite agree with your summation of how dems are. us dems have our disagreements, but i welcome discussion of those differences. i do agree that because gop is about greed, that it is more of a primal or uncivilized stance party as a whole. not all gop are greedy, but i wonder sometimes if that is not the case.
MH/Duuuval
May 2, 2024 at 5:56 pm
“What am I always saying. Demos always attack their own.”
Precisely because Democrats are not servants of MAGA and can disagree without having big foot land on them.
I don’t give Sandlin a chance against White Shoe Duggan, but there may be plenty of women voters and younger Demos who will give him their vote as a protest against Duggan who has toed the MAGA line.
Old Geezer
May 2, 2024 at 7:01 pm
If they show up. I don’t have time for people who complain how things are then either don’t show up or throw their vote away because somehow that’s more important than (fill in the blank. It’s a long list). I just don’t see it. This guy couldn’t even say he’s supporting the top of the ticket because he’s afraid of ticking off the vote throwers. Ok. Having differences of opinion to get to a higher ground and not being group minded are all assets until you just decide to sit on your x.
MH/Duuuval
May 2, 2024 at 7:12 pm
I haven’t missed a vote since I turned 21, including my first presidential ballot for George McGovern.
Biden is skating on thin ice by standing so close to Netanyahu and continuing to give Israel offensive weapons. As someone pointed out on this site, things are shaping to be like 1968 with a nasty, right-winger versus a liberal Democrat waging an unpopular war.
rick whitaker
May 2, 2024 at 8:59 pm
MH, i went to a eugene mcCarthy political rally in oak ridge tennessee in 1967. oak ridge is the town that built the atomic bomb and to this day is a restricted place because of the national labs. i was thrown in jail and didn’t give them my name for 10 days. then i let them know i was a 15 year old. when they heard that, they quickly took me to the edge of town, let me out, and acted like it didn’t happen. it wasn’t on my fbi record when i checked. that ws my intro into politics. BTW, humphery lost and we got nixon. eugene mccarthy was too far ahead of his time i guess.
MH/Duuuval
May 3, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Great story. And nothing on your permanent record, as the authorities used to term it.
rick whitaker
May 3, 2024 at 10:53 pm
MH/DUUUVAL, about my oak ridge story. the cops were so frightened that they had put a 15 year old in with adult criminals, that they just wanted to act like it didn’t happen. i had already left home by then, so my parents didn’t know about it . about 4 years later when i was about 20, my girlfriend and 5 of my friends got arrested at a large rally where nixon and billy graham were together. they, my girlfriend, were protesting the university having a political and religious rally together. i think they called them the knoxville 5. i googled it years ago, i forgot what the details were. i didn’t get arrested that day. good thing because i had to pass a security screen to join the navy. so, i guess politics and anti- religion has been a big part of my life since 68. i’m rambling, sorry.
Dont Say FLA
May 3, 2024 at 3:37 pm
Every vote is thrown away. It’s not as if we’re allowed to save them up till there’s some day finally a candidate worth voting for. Votes are “use it or lose it” which means they all thrown away.
rick whitaker
May 2, 2024 at 6:06 pm
MH, good comment.
It's Complicated
May 6, 2024 at 4:49 pm
I met with Amber Mariano on an issue when she was in the House. Without going into great detail about her ability to grasp complex issues, I would cite her as one example of why it’s NOT necessarily a good practice to have 20-something year-olds holding positions of power. Have met with other 20-something year-olds in the House that were pretty sharp.
rick whitaker
May 7, 2024 at 12:06 am
IT’S COMPLICATED, what makes a 20-something year-olds ‘ pretty sharp”? if they agree with you they are pretty sharp, but if you disagree with them, not so much huh? amber is a republican, fla. university educated, and a catholic, why do you think she’s not up to par? are you an undercover ageist? i think you qualify as a contrarian and don’t admit it. sanctimonious, is what some call it.
It's Complicated
May 7, 2024 at 10:31 am
Think whatever you want. Your opinion has zero bearing my life, livelihood or expertise.
It’s pretty simple. I’m referring to the ability to understand the nuances of a complex issue and how it affects Floridians and/or a multi-billion $ sector of our economy that employs tens of thousands of people and has direct “health and safety of the citizens” implications. This ability is particularly important when holding a leadership position on a committee of jurisdiction (as in the case I cited, in which the Representative appeared incapable of grasping a complex regulatory issue). I could care less that she is a Republican, college-educated, or a Catholic, because none of those things is a measure of her capacity to excel. I have met with young legislators who disagree with my position – both sides of the aisle, who were able to understand complex and nuanced issues and I (still) view them as capable. Generally speaking, a few years of life experience is highly beneficial to policy makers particularly in the realm they are going to serve on a committee. <– This is the very reason there is a minimum age in our Constitution to being elected to the U.S. Congress (25), U.S. Senate (30), POTUS (35). If one's only life experience in the employment world is to ask, "Would you like fries with that? or "How deep do you want me to dig this hole?" then I submit to you that person is not going to represent their district as well as someone with additional or broader experience.
I'll add that over the past 10-years, Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have on occasion intentionally put people on committees who know little about the sectors they regulate. One can only speculate at the reasons.
Old geezer
May 7, 2024 at 3:25 pm
Strongly agree. Age does not always lead to wisdom, but given a young idiot vs an older one, I’ll take the older one 9/10 times.
rick whitaker
May 7, 2024 at 7:36 pm
OLD GEEZER, ageism is bad as it is an unfair thought or act. fairness seems to always be better. the IT’S COMPLICATED poster is one of the more bigoted posters i respond to. sanctimonious fits well.
rick whitaker
May 7, 2024 at 9:18 pm
IT’S COMPLICATED, you are so full of yourself. you keep referring to complexity like it is something that you hold the key to, and others are not allowed in the room you hold the key to. the nuances and complexities you speak of are being looked at with your intellect, your experiences. since you are a partisan, you look for what you want to see and act accordingly. the objective understanding you have of this complicated subject does require all the things you say it does, just not from your subjective arrogant perspective. you forget, i know how you think based on that one comment you made about NPR being left-leaning. you are not an honest person at all. you base your comments on christian conservative principles, so you are affectively asleep. what a totally pretentious person you are. you actually, have no clue. perhaps you could reject that bogus bible crap, and then your head might start healing. you are in desantis’ league of partisan maga cultism for sure. it’s complicated, what a load of crap that moniker is. most outside of your orbit see florida as a maga joke.
Comments are closed.