Democrat McLauchlan hopes to wrest bluish seat from incumbent Brandes
ST. PETERSBURG Floridas Senate District 22 has a rare blue tinge to it, something from which Democrats are trying to benefit in this years elections.
In their quest to defeat Republican incumbent Sen. Jeff Brandes, Democrats have placed their hope in Judithanne McLauchlan, a political science professor at University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
The contrast between the two is visible something the attack ads running on eachs behalf are trying to exploit but each espouses a populist message in an election year where standing next to a utility giant like Duke Energy amounts to political poison.
Shaped like a sideways capital T, the district, at its widest, runs from Belleair Shore to Tierra Verde. It traverses the Pinellas Peninsula between Seminole and central St. Petersburg, cutting across the bay into South Tampa.
It leans Democrat, but Brandes was elected to the seat in 2012 after serving in the state House for two years.
Brandes, a multimillionaire heir to his familys Tibbetts Lumber Co. (formerly Cox Lumber), is a relatively high-profile lawmaker. The 38-year-old Army veteran and father of three led the fight against red light cameras and has sought to make ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft legal in the state.
He has supported higher speed limits and more aggressive adoption of Google Cars, while opposing the Greenlight Pinellas transit overhaul initiative. He was the only state senator to vote against Medicaid expansion in the state.
An investor in Green Bench Brewing Co., a keystone in Tampa Bays craft beer boom, he vocally opposed a 2014 law that would have hurt Floridas craft beer industry.
On the campaign trail, the utility industry namely, Duke Energy has been a major focal point. He has heavily criticized the energy giant for charging consumers for a nuclear power plant that never will be built.
While he has received campaign money from Duke, he has said that he is not beholden to the company or anyone else who contributes. He has said he would prefer to deregulate utilities to promote competition, thereby driving down prices for consumers.
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Democrat McLauchlan hopes to wrest bluish seat from incumbent Brandes