Six candidates -- three Republicans and three Democrats -- have qualified to run in the special election later this year to replace Fred Hawkins in the Florida House of Representatives. The qualifying period ran from Wednesday morning to Thursday at noon.
Hawkins is leaving his District 35 seat after being named president of South Florida State College.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, Democrats Rishi Bagga, Marucci Guzman and Tom Keen, and Republicans Erika Booth, Ken Davenport and Scotty Moore have qualified to run in the special election.
Bagga and Keen ran for the same seat in 2022, as did Davenport. Moore ran for U.S. Congress, and Booth is giving up the School Board district 5 seat she won in 2022 to run -- Gov. Ron DeSantis or one of his appointees is expected to nominate an appointee to that seat ahead of a scheduled 2024 election.
Thus far, Booth has the endorsement of the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee, and Guzman's been endorsed by Florida Leadership Council, a group of more than 100 former legislators, elected officials and veteran Democratic activists.
The primary election will be held Nov. 7, with a general election on Jan. 16, the week after the 2024 legislative session is set to officially begin. The first of seven interim committee weeks begin Sept. 18.
