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Hernando Today

Lawmakers Sail Into Another Term

Two state Legislators won’t have to fight to keep their seats.

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: July 7, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE -

Hernando County voters don't have a choice in the matter: Rep. Ron Schultz and Sen. Paula Dockery are staying put at the statehouse.
No one stepped up this year to challenge Dockery and Schultz, both Republicans, for their seats in the state Legislature.
Why not?
It comes down to reputation, demographics and, of course, money, said a political expert and party officials on both sides.
Hernando County Democratic Party Chairman Jay Rowden said he "worked a little bit" to recruit candidates to challenge Schultz for District 43, which includes all of Citrus County and small pieces of Hernando and Levy counties.
State party officials, however, indicated there would be little financial support for that fight, he said.
While the number of Republican and Democrat voters is close to even in the district, the Republican Party is strong in Citrus, Rowden said. That strength showed in 2007, during a special election for the seat between Schultz and Sophia Diaz-Fonseca, a Democrat who served on the Inverness City Council. The two faced off to fill the vacancy left by Republican Charlie Dean, who stepped down to run for a state Senate seat he'd go on to win.
Republicans enjoyed success in their effort to motivate absentee voters, Rowden said, and the state party also threw a respectable amount of financial support to Schultz. Diaz-Fonseca got 38 percent of the vote to Schultz's 58 percent.
"She was absolutely swamped by that Republican machine up there," Rowden said.
It would be a particularly tough race for a challenger with no name recognition compared to Schultz, an incumbent who served as property appraiser for Citrus County, he said.
"Nobody knows you, so unless you've got a whole pile of money, it's a tough way to go," he said.
Schultz in his first session has shown signs he'll vote based on logic and his conscience rather than blindly follow the Republican Party line, Rowden said. Schultz, for example, voted against a bill that would have required women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound first.
"It's not like there's an endless pot of money," he said. "(The party) has to make a judgment call and figured, all in all, Ron Schultz is a pretty moderate guy."
Dockery was elected in 2004 to District 15, which contains the eastern half of Hernando and has 43 percent Democratic voters compared to Republicans' 39 percent. Dockery has established a reputation as a centrist who isn't afraid to buck the party line, said Dr. Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida.
"She's very bold and she does have a good reputation for constituent services," MacManus said. "At the state and local level, that means a lot."
Dockery garnered more name recognition – and the praise from voters throughout the state – as she helped lead the fight last session against what she called a "sweetheart deal" with CSX that would have had the state spend $650 million on railroad right of way. She also voted against the ultrasound bill.
Hernando County Republican Party Chairwoman Ana Trinque agreed that Dockery doesn't always "take the line some (Republicans) would like her to take." But she seems to strike a balance between voting her conscience and angering Republicans enough to rouse a challenger, Trinque said. She also scores points for "being very involved" and staying in touch with constituents, Trinque said.
The state is seeing more competition for office this election cycle because "people are getting angry and want to do something different," said MacManus, who is calling 2008 "the year of the moderate."
"But for people who have good records and are perceived as moderates, there's less likelihood someone is going to file to run against them," MacManus said.
Dockery said Monday that some constituents called her office last month to say they got a call from a pollster asking whether they thought she was doing a good job. She said her gut feeling is it's related to enemies she made by fighting the CSX deal.
"(The poll) must not have gone the way they wanted, because no one filed to run," she said.
Dockery said she plans to renew a fight for a statewide commuter rail system. She said the CSX battle showed her that the state needs to increase the transparency and oversight of the Florida Department of Transportation, which had a budget last year of $8.8 billion.
"It seems there are better ways of doing things in the transportation section and we, as lawmakers, pardon the pun, haven't really been driving the train," she said.
She said the Legislature "isn't done" with property taxes and insurance reform and needs to overhaul its tax system.
Schultz, who joked that he hasn't been in office long enough to "aggravate a lot of people," agreed. He said he has tackled "the huge learning curve" of a new legislator and looked forward to putting 30 years of property appraiser experience to use next session.
"We need to figure out how state and local governments can balance their revenue sources so they're not redistributing wealth and income," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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