Janelle Irwin Taylor
Seminole County native Emily Duda Buckley, a local business woman, has filed to run in House District 38 to replace term-limited incumbent Rep. David Smith.
Duda Buckley is the third Republican to file for the seat, joining Marcus Hyatt and Austyn Cydney Spell, who both entered the race in December.
Duda Buckley is focusing her campaign on improving government efficiency and strengthening families.
“I’m running for the State House because I believe that the decisions made today will have a profound effect on future generations in the state of Florida,” she said. “As a fifth-generation Floridian and mother to two adopted children, I understand the challenges Florida families face to make ends meet.”
Duda Buckley was born and raised in Central Florida. She attended Florida State University and became a Guardian Ad Litem while attending college. Later, she became a licensed foster parent.
She serves with the Florida Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents and the 4Roots Foundation, where she provides resources to adoptive and foster parents. Her goal is to drive needed change within the child welfare system.
“Housing costs, insurance rates and property taxes are sky-high,” she added.
“The rising costs of childcare and elder care are a multi-generational challenge, where options are few and assistance is limited. I’ll follow President (Donald) Trump and Governor (Ron) DeSantis’ lead and put an end to the waste, fraud and abuse in the government. It’s time for us to shrink the cost of government and return the savings to the taxpayers in order to strengthen Florida families.”
Duda Buckley’s platform also includes increasing access to healthy meals and agricultural education to communities in need.
She lives in Oviedo with her two children, Jack and Keira June.
HD 38 is anchored in southwest Seminole County and includes the cities of Altamonte Springs, Casselberry and Winter Springs.
No Democrat has yet entered the race. It could be a competitive open race. The constituency is about 34% Democrats and about 33% Republicans, with nearly 30% of the electorate not affiliated with a political party, according to the most recent L2 voter data.
And Smith won the race last year by less than 700 votes against Democrat Sarah Henry. He faced her in 2022 too, posting a much stronger performance that year, as a red wave swept the state even as Democrats overperformed elsewhere. Then, Smith secured more than 52% of the vote, a difference of about 3,000 votes.
Because she just entered the race Tuesday, Duda Buckley has not yet posted any campaign finance activity. But one of her opponents so far has. Hyatt has raised $1,500 and added $20,000 of his own money through a candidate loan. Spell has not yet posted any fundraising activity.
