Janelle Irwin Taylor
If there are any surprises in the races for House Districts 65 and 67, they’ll likely come in the Primary, and even there the surprises might be lacking.
Two Democrats are vying for the nomination in HD 65 to challenge incumbent Republican Karen Pittman Gonzalez. And in HD 67, two Republicans are running for the chance to take on incumbent Democrat Fentrice Driskell, who serves as House Democratic Leader.
In HD 65, Ashley Brundage will square off against Nathan Kuipers. On paper, Brundage has the edge.
Brundage is the founder, President and CEO of Empowering Differences, an organization that seeks to build leadership skills through embracing differences and cultivating unique skills. It’s an apt mission — Brundage would be the state’s first transgender woman to hold elected office.
She has support from Ruth’s List Florida and was the first transgender candidate the group has ever backed, a nod to changing times and a growing push — at least in Democratic politics — to foster inclusivity at all ranks of leadership. Ruth’s List CEO Christina Diamond praised Brundage for her “courage to lead and mentor.” Equality Florida, the state’s premier LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, has also backed Brundage.
But for the Primary at least, it’s money that sets Brundage apart from her Primary opponent. She’s raised nearly $61,000 as of Aug. 2. Kuipers, meanwhile, had raised less than $17,000 and was in the red, with more than $20,000 spent.
Kuipers teaches music and is a Democratic activist running on a platform seeking to have a housing emergency declared statewide to help with affordability challenges. While money is holding him back, Kuipers also faces challenges with name recognition — Brundage is well-known throughout Tampa, particularly in business circles — and could get dinged in the Primary by a nod for his opponent. The Tampa Bay Times in its election recommendations gave its support to Brundage.
Regardless of the outcome, either candidate faces a challenging road ahead against Gonzalez. While Brundage retains about $20,000, Pittman has raised more than $212,000 to her campaign this cycle and has about $160,000 of that still on hand.
That’s a lot of cash to defend a seat, especially one with a clear GOP advantage. There are more than 44,000 Republican voters in the district, compared to less than 35,000 Democrats. There are also more than 31,000 no-party voters in the district who could provide some hope for a blue swing, but with a money deficit, it remains a tall order for Democrats.
Two Republican candidates are vying for the GOP nomination in HD 67, and they may face even greater long-shot odds than the Democrats running in neighboring HD 65.
In the GOP Primary, Rico Smith appears to have an edge, with nearly $34,000 raised compared to Lisette Bonano’s just over $12,000. Neither has much left in the bank — Smith retains about $8,000 while Bonano has less than $4,000.
And either one would enter the General Election drive at a huge disadvantage, with Driskell posting about $50,000 still on hand as of Aug. 2. And like HD 65, the challengers also face a voter registration disadvantage, with more than 32,000 Democrats to just over 23,000 Republicans. Another 26,000 voters in the district are registered without party affiliation.
But Bonano has been here before. She unsuccessfully challenged Driskell two years ago, losing the race by about 8 percentage points. She’s a U.S. Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq while on active duty, and served in Afghanistan as a contractor.
She’s running on a platform backing former President Donald Trump. Bonano wants to stop “federal overreach” and is pushing to address illegal immigration, support gun rights and limit vaccine mandates. She’s opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Smith, meanwhile, also has experience running for office, though his is more recent. He had been filed to run for Hillsborough County Commission but dropped out of that race after consulting with GOP leaders in Tallahassee and deciding to avoid a crowded Primary, telling the Tampa Bay Times “we have to stop the cannibalism against other good candidates.”
An engineer, Smith is an Air Force veteran and, before this cycle, had never sought elected office before. He earned the Times recommendation in the GOP Primary for HD 67, but with a pretty strong caveat.
“Republican voters have two weak choices in this primary to challenge the incumbent,” the editorial board wrote. They criticized Bonano for not having “a relevant agenda to advance for the residents of this district,” and said Smith was “marginally more informed.”
