Drew Wilson
Manatee County Republican Kristen Truong has launched a campaign to succeed term-limited Republican Rep. Will Robinson next year.
Truong is the first-in major party candidate for the seat, which covers western Manatee County stretching from Anna Maria Island to Palmetto.
“The opportunity to serve a community that I’ve called home my entire life is not a responsibility I take lightly,” said Truong, who currently works as Vice President of Public Affairs at Capitol Hill Partners, where she provides strategic guidance on education and workforce development.
“Whether it’s lowering out-of-control insurance premiums, reducing (the) cost of living, or ensuring our children have the resources necessary to thrive and prosper, I will never stop fighting for conservative values that make our County and State the best place to live and grow a family.”
Truong was born in Manatee Memorial Hospital in 1995 to parents who risked life and limb to give their daughter a chance at the American Dream — her father, alone as a teenager, escaped communist Vietnam in 1978 as one of the boat people, risking death at sea and spending months in a refugee camp before reaching the United States. Nearly a decade later, Truong’s mother made her own journey to freedom, leaving everything behind in 1987.
Truong attended St. Joseph Catholic School and Bradenton Christian School. She later earned an undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and a master of public administration from American University.
Locally, Truong’s extensive volunteer experience spans from serving on the Board of Directors of both the Manatee Community Foundation and Bradenton Kiwanis to chairing the annual gala for the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County to advocating on behalf of children in the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida. She is a lifelong parishioner of Ss. Peter and Paul the Apostles Catholic Church.
In her announcement, Truong said she looks forward “to continuing his track-record of fiscal conservatism while standing firm as a staunch Second Amendment defender and Pro-life Republican.”
HD 71 has a sizable Republican advantage. Last year, Robinson was elected to a fourth term with nearly 60% of the vote compared to 35% for Democratic nominee Lesa Miller.
