Two first-time candidates seek open Florida House District 38 seat covering part of Winter Springs

Part of Winter Springs will have a new member of the Florida House after the Nov. 3 election, as Emily Duda Buckley, a Republican, and Nik Dean, a Democrat, compete to replace Rep. David Smith, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday. Smith, a Republican, has reached the end of his eight years in the House under term limits.

House District 38 takes in portions of Winter Springs, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Fern Park and Oviedo, according to the Sentinel. Neither candidate has run for office before.

The candidates

Buckley, 34, belongs to the Duda family, whose company, A. Duda & Sons, grew out of celery and citrus farms the family started in Oviedo early in the last century. Her financial disclosure lists a salary from the company.

She holds a foster parent license and has served for years as a guardian ad litem, the Sentinel reported, and she won the Republican primary in August over Marcus Hyatt with nearly 57% of the vote.

Dean, 31, works as a medical malpractice attorney for a Winter Park firm who lives in unincorporated Seminole County near Maitland. He joined the race in late August, after Democratic nominee Michelle DeJesus withdrew for family reasons.

Buckley and her campaign did not return the Sentinel's calls, so her positions below come from her written answers to the newspaper's candidate questionnaire.

Cost of living

Both candidates put affordability first. Buckley wrote that she would "pursue residential property tax relief, build on the insurance reforms that are bringing carriers back and lowering premiums and fix the 'cliff effect' in childcare and [Florida] KidCare so families aren't penalized for earning more." She also listed housing costs and the state's child and elder care systems among her concerns.

"Affordability is always top of mind for me," Dean said. He proposes state tax breaks for employers that give workers a share of profits or equity in the company, which he said would "increase the wealth of working families." He also wants higher Medicaid reimbursement rates and more state money for community health clinics.

Seminole's rural boundary

The two split on how they would respond if lawmakers again try to weaken the county's rural boundary, which limits housing to one home per five or 10 acres across most of eastern Seminole. County voters wrote the boundary into the charter in 2004 and, two years ago, required at least four of five commissioners to agree before land can be removed.

An amendment this year that would have let landowners seek compensation over those limits died in the state Senate, and the Sentinel reported it is likely to come back.

"I respect both sides of this," Buckley wrote. "I understand why residents value the rural boundary; it protects the character and natural resources that make this area special. And I also take landowners' property rights seriously."

Dean said he is "all for protecting the rural boundary" and that the question belongs to Seminole voters, not the Legislature. "I'm not against development. But we have to be smart with development," he said.

Fundraising

Buckley's campaign had raised $309,140 as of Oct. 2, the Sentinel reported, with the Florida House Republican Campaign giving $49,500. Dean had raised nearly $37,000 by the same date, $23,000 of it coming via the Florida House Democratic Campaign.

Sources

orlandosentinel.com