October 21 – State Senate District 18
On October 21st at noon at the Ferguson Law Center, Tampa Tiger Bay Club welcomes in all candidates for Florida Senate District 18! This program will be recorded and ultimately aired on the Tampa Bay Arts and Education Network! You can RSVP for this exciting event here! Don’t be a spectator, be a Tiger!
Every single Florida Senate seat is up for election in 2016. The 2016 district map for the Florida State Senate was created in adherence to the state’s anti-gerrymandering law. The districts, now split almost evenly between the parties, favor Democrats slightly; in a hypothetical scenario in which Florida’s 2012 presidential votes were cast in these new districts, President Barack Obama won 21 out of 40 districts.
The general election will be held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.From https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_State_Senate_elections,_2016
Bob Buesing
Bob Buesing (D) is a lawyer at Trenam Law. He is a statewide advocate for early childhood education, youth development and financial literacy. He and his wife Karen have been married for 30 years, have two adult children and over the past 10 years, have taken in six other youths who were either at-risk or outright homeless, serving as their surrogate parents, teachers and mentors.
Buesing serves on the Board of Directors of the Tampa Metro YMCA, the Florida Alliance of YMCAs, the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, the Children’s Forum, the Florida Council of Economic Education, the Family Healthcare Foundation, and is a founding member of the Business Alliance for Early Learning at the Florida Chamber Foundation. Fromwww.http://buesingforsenate.com/about/
While Joe Redner (NPA) is perhaps better known for his adult entertainment empire, he is Joe Redner
running for State Senate on a progressive platform. On his website , he states, “I’ve stood up to conservative politics for over 30 years and now I’m ready to bring that fight to Tallahassee. I believe that the state of Florida is falling behind on the national stage because of politicians that care more about special interests than they do about human interests.”
If elected, he will fight for a $15.00 minimum wage, medical marijuana, against climate change, and support women’s rights. From http://www.votejoeredner.com/
Sheldon Upthegrove
Sheldon Upthegrove (NPA) is a relative unknown but is running as a NPA. However, a look at his Facebook page seems to indicate that he leans to the right.
https://www.facebook.com/upthegrove4FL/
From his website, he states, “Like many Americans, I’ve become disillusioned with self-involved politicians who care more about posturing than finding a real solution. Politicians today are more concerned with keeping their position, supporting corporate sponsors and toeing the party line, rather than finding real solutions that reflect the viewpoint of us, the people. For my kids and yours, I’m willing to take this on and fight for the people whose voices are being drowned out and their freedoms eaten away. I’ve defended your freedom on a national level and I’m ready to fight for your freedom in our home state. Vote for me, State Senate, District 18, and let’s Be Brave to win back our State.” From https://rally.org/UpthegroveforFL
Dana Young
We regret to inform our members and the general public that Rep. Dana Young has cancelled her participation with the Tampa Tiger Bay Club program this Friday, October 21, featuring candidates for the Florida Senate, District 18. Rep. Young’s explanation is that she wishes to attend the recently-scheduled funeral for the late Louise Lykes Ferguson at 11:00, as well as the reception that follows at noon.
Our meeting is at noon, and being just blocks from the memorial service, we did offer to start later to accommodate Rep. Young. As many know, we offered several dates to Rep. Young and rescheduled this highly-anticipated forum—the only one she is purported to participate in—to accommodate her choice.
It is unfortunate that our members, the news media, and the general public will not benefit from the opportunity to better know and understand all of the candidates for this important office.
The Tampa Tiger Bay Club is committed to remaining the premier organization in the Tampa Bay region for providing a forum for lively political discourse. We urge everyone to still attend on Friday for what promises to be a substantive and memorable event, despite Rep. Young’s absence.
Rep. Dana Young (R) while not in attendance, is the only candidate with legislative experience. In November 2010, Young was elected to serve as the State Representative for Florida House District 60, continuing the family tradition of public service started by her father, former Assistant Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Don Duden, her grandfather, former Florida Senate President Randolph Hodges, and her uncle, State Representative Gene Hodges, who served eight terms in the Florida House of Representatives. Young was subsequently re-elected to the House in 2012 and 2014, and served as chair of the Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation in 2012.
In October 2014, Speaker Steve Crisafulli tapped Young to serve as the majority leader for the 2014-2016 term, following her 2012-2014 service as majority whip and deputy majority leader under Speaker Weatherford. From http://danayoung.com/meet-dana/
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