David Shoar enters already heated GOP Primary in SD 7

Former St. Johns Sheriff David Shoar has filed for an open Senate Seat in Northwest Florida.

The St. Augustine Republican plans to run in Senate District 7. That sets up a high-profile GOP Primary with Rep. Tom Leek, who previously faced only former professional wrestler Gerry James for the Republican nomination.

“I raised my right hand at 18 years old, and was a public servant from age 18 to 59 and a half,” Shoar said. “I was never in the cheap seats. I was always in the arena. I want to get back involved and I think my Republican friends could use some help in Tallahassee.”

Shoar, now 62, served 16 years as Sheriff before choosing to retire after four terms.

He has worked since March 2023 as director of investigations for law firm Woolsey Morcom. That’s especially notable, as a political committee chaired by Woolsey Morcom lawyer Erika Alba has run attack ads against Leek on television and in mailboxes.

Shoar said he had no idea who was behind The Truth Matters political committee and that he works part time with the firm. But with an open Senate race in play, he anticipates a serious GOP Primary battle.

“I’ve made my enemies. Leek has made his enemies,” he said. “I’ve not even been in the race and I’ve been blasted.”

Of note, Shoar’s name appeared in headlines in December after a traffic stop when an officer smelled marijuana in his car. Shoar, who has a prescription for medical cannabis, ultimately received a warning, and called the issue “silly.”

Leek also has friends in Tallahassee. He was by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and already boasts an endorsement from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. That signals that the Senate Republican caucus wants a sitting lawmaker to join its ranks and may spend substantial resources to make that happen.

Shoar doesn’t think the caucus should play any role campaigning in a safe Republican seat.

“It’s stunning to me that Republican Senators would get into a competitive Republican Primary in a pretty safe Republican district,” he said. “Truth of the matter is they should keep their noses out of it and worry about their own races.”

But Shoar said he’s somewhat distrustful of anyone in Tallahassee claiming to know what Republican voters in his district or Florida as a whole want. He said he isn’t running to please particular Tallahassee lobbies in power.

“If you tell me you are a conservative, you are going to need to define that for me. All the definitions have changed,” he said.

“Republicanism is about limited government, and getting as much power away from the federal and state government as we can. We’ve lost our way a little bit.”

Leek has run as a law-and-order candidate, touting endorsements from every sitting Sheriff in the district, though Shoar wonders if he can attract some supporters away now that he’s in the race.

“I didn’t know Tom Leek thought so much of Sheriffs,” Shoar said. “My question to him is, not that I’m in the race, why not drop out?”