BROOKSVILLE — Bill and Terry Clemons opened their primary ballots and did not recognize a name on it.
So they drove to the Elks Lodge on County Line Road on July 25, joining a crowd that filled the hall to hear from the candidates asking for their votes on Aug. 18.
“We belong to Audubon, and we get a lot of the conservation stuff happening,” Clemons said. “We’re concerned about the growth and what’s happening in Hernando. We’d like to see things preserved somewhat, not turn into the concrete city like Tampa.”
They were not alone. Growth was the dominant theme of the afternoon, along with taxes and county spending. Over about three hours, candidates for the County Commission, the state House, Congress, the school board and circuit judge told a mostly older audience — the voters who turn out most reliably in local elections — that development is outrunning the county’s ability to keep up, and that, as nearly every one of them put it, government needs to live within its means.
Each candidate had three minutes to speak, answered three questions from the moderators and closed with a two-minute statement. The forum began at 1 p.m. and was scheduled to run about 3 1/2 hours, but moderators held speakers to their time and the last one finished around 4.
Some in the audience left after their favorite candidates spoke. Many stayed to the end, taking notes, collecting campaign cards and talking to candidates afterward.
Making their case
Every candidate said he or she was running to serve, and each promised to be available to constituents during the campaign and after the election.
Those with military backgrounds made sure voters knew it. County Commission candidate Jeff Holcomb wore the bars he earned as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve. State House District 53 candidate Brian Hawkins cited his Navy service during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Republicans dominated the lineup, but two Democrats running in the primary for the 15th Congressional District also spoke: Robert People and Chris Irizarry. Redistricting moved Hernando County out of Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis’ district and into that of Republican U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, so the primary winner will challenge Lee in November. Lee did not attend.
People, a retired Army veteran with 21 years of service, said he supports universal health care, Social Security, immigration reform and public education. Irizarry, who spent eight years in the Army and 16 with the CIA, said he backs affordable and accessible health care, strong unions and good wages, education and the environment.
His resume, he told the crowd, tends to draw attention. “None of you were followed on the way over here. Were you?” he said, drawing laughter. “Just a little joke. Nobody said this can’t be fun.”
Both men said they are running for the country and its people rather than for a party.
The longest list
The crowded race on the ballot is District 2 of the County Commission, where five candidates are running to replace Hawkins, who resigned his seat to run for the state House.
Maxwell J. Glenn, 26, a 2018 graduate of Springstead High School with a master’s degree from Saint Leo University, pointed to his roots in the county. “I am a Christian, a conservative and a conservationist,” he said, calling that the biggest reason he is running.
Silvia Dukes, a 22-year resident, talked about her business background. “Public service is not about me,” she said. “It’s about you.” Dukes said she supports the property tax amendment on the November ballot. “Government needs to adjust,” she said.
Kathryn Birren, who chairs the Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission and has run for the County Commission before, said she would hold regular evening town halls where residents could be heard. “I hear your frustration when you say the county commission doesn’t listen,” she said. “I want to change that.”
Diane Greenwell said she has advocated for property rights in Hernando Beach for more than a decade and has attended county meetings for years. “I’ve seen the strengths, and the weaknesses, in our county government over the past 12 years,” she said. “I’m no stranger to serving our citizens and our county.”
The fifth candidate, James Scavetta, did not attend.
In District 4, Holcomb and Marvin Baynham are competing in the Republican primary, with the winner facing write-in candidate Donald Bigelow in November. Commission Chairman Jerry Campbell is not seeking reelection.
That race drew Bob Morgan, a regular at commission meetings when growth is on the agenda. “I’m here to learn more about the candidates,” he said. “I’m still undecided on a couple of races. I keep looking for more depth and more clarity from different candidates.” Morgan said he is leaning toward Baynham, who has run for the commission before and has been the target of negative ads on YouTube posted by an account called “RINO Hunter,” a reference to the term “Republican in name only.”
“I’m a Christian, husband, conservative and firefighter,” Baynham said. Overdevelopment, rising taxes and a lack of transparency in the county budget have gone unaddressed, he said, and he promised to be “a competent, thorough representative who will always listen to you.”
He said political committees are fighting to hold onto their influence. “They’re not really after me, they’re after you,” Baynham said. “So I’m fighting hard every day to salvage my reputation.”
Holcomb said family matters led him to give up his state House seat and run for the commission again. He said he wants the county prepared if the property tax amendment passes, and he listed first responders, future infrastructure and the county’s libraries as priorities.
He also said a constituent told him during the COVID-19 pandemic that ivermectin was effective, and that he has used it. The Food and Drug Administration has not authorized ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, to treat COVID-19, and large clinical trials have found no benefit. Holcomb said the exchange taught him about medical freedom. “It’s all come from listening to the folks when they’re reaching out to me,” he said.
He said too few residents follow local government and pledged to push for more engagement if he returns to the commission. In his four years in Tallahassee, he said, lawmakers rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion programs, restricted the use of environmental, social and governance criteria in state investment decisions, passed a permitless concealed carry law and banned what he called “drag-queen performances.”
Final thoughts
Candidates for the school board and circuit judge also spoke.
Sharon Butler, a Spring Hill resident who moved to Florida from Ohio, said she is still learning state and local politics and came to get a better idea of who is on her ballot. “I thought they were all informative and I appreciate their time,” she said.
Chris Groubas, a 15-year resident, said it was the first time he had seen many of the candidates in person, and that the afternoon would help him sort out “who’s good for the county and who’s not good for the county.”
“It’s why I was here,” he said. “Live and learn.”
On the web
Visit hernandovotes.gov for information on the Aug. 18 election, including sample ballots for Republican, Democratic and no-party voters.