Mayfield, Workman slug it out for Senate seat

By JIM TURNER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, July 18, 2016.......... Two House members are clashing over past education and immigration votes in an expensive and personally charged Republican primary for a state Senate seat on the Space Coast.

House Rules Chairman Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, is up against House Local Government Affairs Chairwoman Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, in the newly redrawn Senate District 17.

Workman, a director of business development at Keiser University who has drawn headlines for moonlighting as an Uber driver, and Mayfield, a marketing consultant whose late husband also served in the Legislature, are unable to seek re-election to the House due to term limits.

Also in the Republican primary to fill a seat being vacated by Sen. Thad Altman is Mike Thomas, a physician assistant and state committeeman from Melbourne who hasn't drawn much attention or money away from Mayfield or Workman.

Altman, who can't run due to term limits, is seeking a Brevard County House seat.

Chris Muro, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, described the contest as a "heavyweight bout" centered on Mayfield and Workman.

"These are well-established players in Republican politics and the Legislature," Muro said.

Muro added that Mayfield, who has focused deeply on Indian River County issues while in the House, has been working a strong ground campaign --- with numerous mailers and frequent appearances at neighborhoods events --- to get her name out to Brevard County voters, who haven't been constituents of her or her late husband, Rep. Stan Mayfield.

Workman, meanwhile, has carved himself a "leadership niche" in the House, where he is seen to have matured from his early days in the Legislature, Muro said.

Workman, who once garnered dubious national attention for attempting to repeal part of state law that prohibits recreational activities that exploit people with dwarfism --- an issue involving a ban on so-called "dwarf tossing" --- oversaw the House version of a $500 million cut to taxes and fees in 2014. The package featured a rollback in vehicle registration fees.

Key issues for the Republican-leaning district, which includes all of Indian River County and part of Brevard County, include the pending start of the controversial All Aboard Florida passenger rail service and the deteriorating condition of the Indian River Lagoon.

However, topics that have dominated the primary have included the Common Core education standards and immigration issues. That includes laws opening in-state college and university tuition to undocumented students and opening eligibility in The Florida Bar to some immigrants who were undocumented when their parents settled in the U.S.

"How can you have someone sitting as an attorney who came here illegally?" said Mayfield, who has highlighted her votes against those issues in a TV spot and in mailers. "I'm showing a difference in our voting record from a conservative standpoint."

Workman voted for the 2014 immigration-related bills later signed by Gov. Rick Scott. Muro described the bills as "red meat" for conservatives, more so as immigration has become a hot-button topic for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Workman said those issues have been thrust forward because Mayfield doesn't have a list of successful legislation to highlight.

"She voted against two immigration bills that became law and were signed by a Republican governor. And she's filed a couple of Common Core bills that were never heard in a committee," Workman said. "At the end of the day, when all the smoke clears … the voters will see that one of the legislators spent eight years and has accomplished almost nothing while the other has lived up to his promises."

The campaign also has a personal aspect.

Mayfield was first elected in 2008 when Stan Mayfield was term-limited from the House and was running for Indian River Tax Collector. Debbie Mayfield went unopposed in the primary, but Stan Mayfield lost a battle against esophageal cancer before he could see her win his seat in the general election.

Last October, Mayfield married Bob Scaringe, an engineer who founded Mainstream Engineering, which manufactures equipment and performs research for many U.S. government agencies and contractors.

Workman had a hand in introducing Scaringe to Mayfield, which is something they agree upon.

Workman described his relationship with Scaringe as once close, to the point they traveled to Tallahassee and went on cruises together.

"I have a voice mail where he refers to me as his best friend," Workman said.

Mayfield called Workman and Scaringe "acquaintances" due to them once having neighboring homes and similar political tastes.

"Obviously they ran into each other for a little while," Mayfield said.

Muro said that personal aspect hasn't been a factor for voters.

Mayfield, who has loaned $400,000 to her campaign, has been bolstered lately by a new political action committee called Stop Career Politicians. The committee has as its announced mission to "hold Ritch Workman accountable for his moral, ethical and legal transgressions."

Since forming June 13, Stop Career Politicians has received two contributions.

It received $25,000 from the West Palm Beach-based Free Speech PAC, which is chaired by Randy Nielsen of the campaign firm Public Concepts. Public Concepts has long worked with Mayfield and many other Republicans.

Nielsen said the Stop Career Politicians website speaks to why his PAC gave its support.

"It's pretty apparent we're probably doing a public service to try to prevent him (Workman) from getting in the Florida Senate," Nielsen said.

Also, a PAC known as Citizens First gave $45,000 to Stop Career Politicians. Among the contributors to Citizens First are a committee tied to Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and the Free Speech PAC.

Galvano said Workman is a friend, but he hasn't made an endorsement in the race. Galvano added that his PAC, Innovate Florida, doesn't have control over the committees it funds.

Workman has his own political committee --- Citizens United For Liberty and Freedom --- which has taken in $208,000 this year.

Both Workman and Mayfield expressed confidence in their approaches to the contest.

Workman expects the campaign will go deeper into the mud as the voting gets underway.

"I firmly believe they'll get it right, they'll vote for the one that has a history of accomplishment instead of the one that went totally negative and quite barbaric in the campaign," Workman said.

Meanwhile, Mayfield intends to continue pushing issues such as a proposal for the state to return to an elected education commissioner. She said there isn't much difference in the demographics between the Senate district and her House seat.

"I know who sent me to Tallahassee, and those are the voters in my district," Mayfield said. "And I seek their opinion on what they want me to do."

Democrat Amy Tidd awaits the winner of the Aug. 30 Republican primary in the November general election.