Democrats look to capture Gardiner seat

By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, October 19, 2016.......... Senate President Andy Gardiner's Orlando-area Senate seat is a prime takeover target for Florida Democrats.

Former House member Linda Stewart, who also served two terms on the Orange County Commission, is the Democratic candidate vying to replace Gardiner in the Nov. 8 election, while Dean Asher, former president of the Florida Realtors, is the Republican candidate.

Stewart is the favorite in the Nov. 8 election in Senate District 13 because a court-ordered redistricting plan has reshaped the district held by Gardiner, a term-limited Republican, since 2008. The new boundaries are more friendly to Democrats. As an example, Barack Obama carried the district, which has a Hispanic population of more than 30 percent, by nearly 14 percentage points in the 2012 presidential election.

In his campaign, Asher is playing down the demographics and emphasizing his deep personal ties to the district, which runs east of Interstate 4 and includes some 46 percent of Orlando's population, along with Winter Park and the Orlando International Airport.

"I was born and raised in the district. I have a business in the district," said Asher, 48, who runs a real-estate business founded by his grandfather in 1952. "Our slogan has been independent-minded, community-focused. That has gone a long way and it is resonating with the voters."

Without a primary opponent, Asher has had a substantial fund-raising edge over Stewart. Asher had raised more than $600,000 through Oct. 7 for his Senate campaign between direct contributions and money raised through a political committee, which has drawn strong support from real-estate groups.

In addition to his fundraising, Asher said he and campaign supporters have knocked on some 80,000 doors during the campaign. "That's hugely important," he said.

Stewart, 67, had raised just over $60,000 through Oct. 7, and that includes the $35,000 she raised in a highly competitive Democratic primary where she faced former state Rep. Mike Clelland and former Orange County School Board member Rick Roach.

Clelland, a firefighter turned lawyer, raised more than $700,000 but lost to Stewart, who won the three-way race with 43 percent of the vote.

"I really don't get skittish about the money," Stewart said, now facing the well-funded Asher campaign. "I think it's about the accomplishments of that person, the experience and certainly the issues."

Stewart may not have to raise as much money because voters in the district are familiar with her. She served a good portion of the district as a one-term House member, before losing a re-election bid in 2014, and as a two-term county commissioner, who left that job for an unsuccessful bid for Orange County mayor in 2010.

"I have represented the people in this district for over a decade, and I have represented them well and I think they appreciate my experience and dedication to them," Stewart said.

As for examples of her key issues, Stewart emphasized her support for environmental initiatives, including springs protection and the use of voter-approved conservation funds to pay for critical land purchases rather than being used to pay for staffing and equipment at state agencies.

Asher, who was appointed to the Orlando Aviation Authority by Gov. Rick Scott in 2012, said his key focus is job creation and education improvements, including mandatory physical education.

"It's all about jobs. As a business owner, I know the struggles employees have in trying to get jobs,” he said.

Asher supports Scott's call for $85 million in economic incentives to lure more major businesses to the state, although he said the money should be used on a "case by case" basis with strict requirements on job creation.

Stewart opposes the governor's economic incentives, saying lawmakers would have little control over how Enterprise Florida would use the money to attract new businesses.

After the Pulse nightclub shooting, which occurred a few hundred yards from Asher's business office in Orlando, both candidates said they would favor some changes in gun laws.

Asher said he would support a "no fly, no buy" provision that would block people on a terrorist no-fly list from purchasing weapons, as long as there was a reasonable "due process" provision in which individuals wrongly on the list could be removed.

Stewart, as well as Asher, said improved mental health programs are another key to reducing violent incidents in Florida.

"Where we have failed miserably is funding for mental health," Stewart said.

Both candidates favor Amendment 2 on the general election ballot, which would expand the use of medical marijuana in Florida.

If elected, Asher has promised to serve two terms in the Legislature and then return to private life and not seek another office.

"I'm not a career politician," he said. "That's a huge difference between Linda Stewart and myself. I'm not looking for a stepping stone."

Asher has criticized Stewart for some tax proposals she supported while a county commissioner and as a state House member, including a bill in 2014 that would have imposed a $3 rental-car surcharge if approved in a referendum.

Stewart said she filed the rental-car bill, which never passed, to provide funding to improve public transit services in the Orlando area, including the SunRail commuter train.

Stewart said her experience as an elected official will make her a more effective lawmaker in Tallahassee, including her ability to work with the Republicans, who are the majority party in the state House and Senate.

"I've worked across the aisle," Stewart said, pointing to her 2014 legislation, signed by Scott, that provided a tax break to keep an Orlando-based bail bonds company from leaving the state.

Stewart said her personal relationships with other lawmakers, including House members moving to the Senate, and her knowledge of the system will help her in the Senate.