When heading to the polls this November, residents all over Florida will have a chance to select a new Governor. But before that can happen, the number of candidates has to be whittled down in the August primary. <\/p>\n
Candidates have been traveling throughout the Panhandle to make their pitches.<\/p>\n
Democrat David Jolly, who is widely considered the front-runner for his party’s nomination, says he\u2019s been hearing from people in rural counties that they want politicians to take their concerns seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cRural Florida is just asking to make sure they have a seat at the table,\u201d Jolly says. \u201cThat their voice is heard as well because too many of our politics often get decided in the urban corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republican candidates, former House Speaker Paul Renner, and businessman James Fishback, echo similar sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne size does not fit all,\u201d Renner says. \u201cRural communities have unique needs and they have unique demands.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than a third of Florida\u2019s counties don\u2019t generate enough revenue to support local government services like public safety, schools and roads\u2014which means the state has to pick up the tab. And not all of the needs of fiscally-constrained counties get funded.<\/p>\n
Many of those constrained counties, as Fishback notes, are within North Florida\u2019s Panhandle.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida is more than just Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville,\u201d Fishback says. \u201cIt is rural counties like Bay, Liberty, Gulf and Franklin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rural communities are entering campaign season with many issues and concerns\u2014from legislation on data centers to worries about the affordability of homes, and even a proposed amendment to the state that would significantly reduce local government revenues by cutting property taxes.<\/p>\n
Niceville resident Randy Wise recently attended a rally for Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, who is also seeking to upgrade his job. Wise says he\u2019s grateful for the time the candidates are spending in North Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to feel like we know the guy at the top,\u201d Wise says. \u201cWe want to think that we can call him if we need to. We want to be able to reach out and touch him and know that he feels the pain with the issues that we are experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wise works in real estate, and he\u2019s concerned that the number of new arrivals to the area are driving up demand and home prices in a way that makes it harder for some longtime residents to keep their existing properties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just glad we are being recognized up here in the panhandle and we got those guys coming through here and talking to us,\u201d Wise says. \u201cWe feel like sometimes we\u2019re a little bit sidelined because we are not Miami or Fort Lauderdale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrat David Jolly is now considered the party\u2019s frontrunner for governor after Orlando Mayor Jerry Demmings dropped out due to health concerns. On the Republican side, Congressman Byron Donalds leads his field. Donalds has also made stops in the Panhandle, including in Marianna.<\/p>\n
In a statement, a spokesperson for Donalds says people are telling him quote\u2014\u201cthey just want Florida to remain Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When heading to the polls this November, residents all over Florida will have a chance to select a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-332662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}