Staff Reports
Republican Representatives in the Panhandle are coming together to back one of their own for re-election. Reps. Shane Abbott, Alex Andrade, Patt Maney and Michelle Salzman are all endorsing Rep. Joel Rudman, the House District 3 incumbent.
Rudman, a family doctor from Navarre, is so far unopposed in his first re-election bid after securing his seat in the House in 2022 against a self-described “MAGA’ conservative, Mariya Calkins.
Qualifying for state House races does not begin until June 10, and would-be challengers have until June 14 to jump into the race, meaning the endorsements could still be handy if Rudman ends up drawing a challenger.
But with more than $99,000 raised this cycle, and more than $78,000 of it still on hand, Rudman might have successfully scared off any potential opponents.
Still, he’s grateful for his colleague’s support.
“A large part of Florida’s success is our ability to fight for our conservative causes as a united team and because of that teamwork, we’ve been able to deliver major victories for the people we represent in Tallahassee,” Rudman said.
“In that spirit, I look forward to continuing to work with these dedicated public servants in keeping Florida the most free and prosperous state in the union for decades to come and helping protect the rights that are enshrined in our Constitution.”
The HD 3 seat covers all but the coastal stretch of Santa Rosa County. It’s bordered by State Road 98 to the south and reaches into rural Okaloosa County near the Alabama border. Navarre is one of three cities that anchor the district.
It’s unlikely that a Democrat would jump into the race. The district is ruby red, with Republicans comprising nearly 61% of the electorate compared to just 15% Democrats, according to the most recent L2 data.
5 comments
Hung Wiil
May 22, 2024 at 7:13 pm
Joel Rudman is a nice man, but he is wrong on a lot of issues especially Medicaid expansion. He wants a prosperous economy for decades to come, but he wants to expand a failed government program that will cost tens of billions. Thankfully he’s term limited.
rick whitaker
May 22, 2024 at 7:51 pm
HUNG, we need medicaid expansion real bad. the real people need all the help they can get so they can pay their bills to the rich people.
R.O. Manov
May 22, 2024 at 8:31 pm
Good old fashioned commynism: people who produce nothing stand with their mouths open, waiting to be fed by others who steal from the productive under the color of law and give the money to the poor in exchange for power. It is as morally corrupt a system as any mob has ever produced–including the mob that shot and stabbed an innocent young family to death in a basement in a Russian summer for the crime of thinking themselves royal. The descendants of that mob, as we see here, remain today.
rick whitaker
May 23, 2024 at 4:09 pm
R. O. MANOV, name-calling and saying this and that about something using misleading and erroneous terms and names is common to the gop. if i said ALL gop does that, that would be as bad as the crap you posted. as far as morality goes, your lies and misconceptions are immoral to a truth lover. communism is an old tired word that opportunist use to confuse people. surly you know this, but you may not care. confusion elects gop. the gop has no platform, does that not mean anything to you. are you willing to let your partisanship destroy our country, sounds like it. blaming good people of being communist is an old trick used by many gop politicians in the past. can’t you see that? you sound so partisan, i’m sure you will discount everything i say.
Dont Say FLA
May 24, 2024 at 10:08 am
Mr Manov could you please compare and contrast the morality of “giv[ing] the money to the poor in exchange for power” with “giv[ing] the money to the richest of the rich in exchange for power.”
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