The political committee screened a total of four candidates for this primary election cycle.
We screened two school board candidates, Jim Jackson (District 7) and Linda Lerner (District 6), and we also screened two candidates for State House District 55, Darryl Rouson (incumbent) and April Sheffield.
Pinellas County School Board-
District 6-
This seat represents portions of north St. Pete and mid-county, and is currently held by Linda Lerner, who is seeking her sixth term. Linda has been a longtime advocate of the LGBT community. Some of her awards and activities include: current board member of Pinellas Youth Pride, 1998 PFLAG Pinellas Education Award and the Equality Florida Voice for Equality Award 2009. Linda also successfully championed several LGBT issues including: inclusion of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression to the Pinellas County anti-bullying policy in 2009, and health insurance benefits for same-sex domestic partners. The committee had a pleasant and insightful conversation with Linda.
Linda is opposed by Brian Hawley, a teacher at Largo Middle School. Brian is a novice candidate and doesn’t appear to be viable. He initially informed the screening committee that he was not seeking any partisan endorsements; however, he later changed his mind and submitted his survey after the endorsement deadline. His responses were actually very good, but Linda’s responses demonstrated her long commitment to LGBT causes.
Although some concerns were raised about her fundraising goals and the atmosphere incumbents face this year, the screening committee voted unanimously to recommend Linda Lerner for endorsement in District 6.
District 7-
This seat represents most of St. Pete, along with all of Gulfport and South Pasadena. The seat is currently held by Mary Brown, who is retiring. Three Democrats are running for this open seat: Keisha Bell, Lew Williams and Jim Jackson. Keisha is a local attorney and youth advocate; she appears to be running a very limited campaign and did not respond to our survey. Lew is a longtime educator who has served as a teacher, principal and area superintendent. He recently changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, and did not respond to our survey.
Jim Jackson is an active Stonewall member serving as the Membership Chair. He served as a full-time volunteer for the Obama campaign and was a delegate at the Denver convention. Jim has over thirty years teaching experience at the college level. He has a PhD, did a post-doctoral fellowship in institutional racism, and was an endowed teaching Chair in Adjustment Psychology at Miami-Dade College. The screening committee had a pleasant meeting with Jim where he showed his expertise on the issues facing the Pinellas County school system. He is running a very aggressive campaign.
The screening committee voted unanimously to recommend endorsing Jim Jackson in District 7.
State House District 55-
District 55 encompasses portions of Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Southern Pinellas counties. The seat is currently held by Darryl Rouson, who is seeking re-election to a second full term. The screening committee had an open and frank discussion with Rep. Rouson. He has worked diligently over the last year to improve his past rocky relationship with LGBT voters, and has evolved in his support and sponsorship for legislation that is important to us. These changes led Equality Florida to endorse him in his current re-election campaign.
The political committee expressed significant concern over his recent endorsement of Charlie Crist, and his acceptance of contributions from individuals who do not share Democratic values. He addressed these concerns in his screening interview. He stated that his core values are Democratic, although he considers himself to be a moderate that works across the aisle to get things done. He assured the screening committee that he would remain a Democrat. As for his endorsement of Charlie Crist, Darryl explained that he has a long-term relationship with the Crist family going back to his childhood, when Dr. Crist was his family’s physician. Charlie Crist appointed Rep. Rouson to his AG transition team, gubernatorial transition team, and the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. His support of Gov. Crist is out of personal loyalty. He reassured the screening committee that Gov. Crist is the only non-Democrat that he is supporting.
Darryl is opposed by April Sheffield, a social worker from Sarasota and a former client of his. April completed our survey and had a lively discussion with the screening committee. Her responses to our survey were good and reflective of our values. April told the screening committee that she is running for office so that all citizens may have equal representation and that she is concerned with the incumbent’s voting record. She had a reasonable figure for what level of funding she would need to have a good chance to win, but she repeatedly declined to indicate how close she was to that goal. April shared with us that she had some criminal charges filed against her in July 2008; however, these charges were later dismissed. Much of her interview was spent criticizing her opponent, and the committee was left with very little info about what she intended to do if elected.
Despite the lack of affection that many members of the committee have for Rep. Rouson, the committee felt that it was important to recognize his transformation on the actual issues important to our community. He started a dialogue with us over a year ago, and he has followed through with action by sponsoring our bills in the legislature. Although there is still significant concern regarding his party loyalty, the screening committee voted 5-1 to recommend Darryl Rouson for endorsement.