Nugent re-election run official

U.S. Representative Richard Nugent made it official Thursday night — he is running for re-election.

Only this time, because of redistricting, Republican Nugent will likely be representing District 11 instead of District 5.

District 11 covers all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties, and portions of Marion and Lake counties.

The new redistricting maps were approved Friday by a Florida House committee and go before a full vote next week. But Nugent called the vote a formality, because much of the work gets done in committee.

Nugent said there is no question that his district, the largest in the state, had to be decreased, because it was about 32 percent overpopulated.

"We had to pare it down," he said Friday.

The district changes also mean two of Nugent's prequalified challengers, Eileen Fleming and John Russell, would no longer be in his district and would not run against him.

The other two challengers, Bruce Ray Riggs of Crystal River and Democrat David Werder of Hernando County, would still be eligible to run in the new District 11. Riggs is a no-party-affiliation candidate.

In a separate prepared statement, Nugent stressed that the redistricting does not change his commitment to the electorate.

"I want to make it clear from the start, Hernando County is my home," Nugent said. He and his wife, Wendy, raised their boys here, he added. "It is the community I have served and protected for over 25 years. I am not going anywhere. I am running for Congress right here."

The current District 5 includes all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and parts of Lake, Levy, Marion, Pasco and Polk counties. It has seen some of the biggest population gains in recent years.

Nugent said he will be sorry to see Pasco, Levy and Polk counties erased from his new district.

"I have had the great honor of getting to know the families and small businesses who call those counties home," he said.

The redistricting proposals came about after Floridians in the 2010 election approved two constitutional amendments calling for more compactness in voting districts and that they be free of political influence.

The plans will define boundaries for voting districts for the next 10 years, beginning with the 2012 elections.