Dana Young, Janet Cruz spar over guns, schools, environment in crucial Senate race

TAMPA — During a showdown Friday in Florida's most hotly contested state Senate race, Democratic challenger Janet Cruz launched fireworks at Dana Young over education funding, the environment and guns.

Young, the Republican incumbent in District 18, responded by emphasizing problem-solving, moderation and compromise as she spoke before a mostly Democratic crowd at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club.

In frequently heated back-and-forth, Cruz sought to link Young to problems she said were the result of years of Republican-dominated state government in Florida — "crumbling" public schools with broken air conditioners, the blue-green algae scourge on Florida's waters, and gun deaths she blamed on lax gun laws.

Young said she is "all about finding common sense solutions. I've never had a hard time problem working with the other party and I'm always willing to compromise."

Moderator Susan MacManus, a retired University of South Florida political scientist, called the race "one of the top five in the country" among legislative contests, in part because it could decide whether Democrats, now a minority of 16 in the 40-seat Senate, approach parity with the Republicans.

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Both sides are expected to spend millions on the race, which MacManus said is being closely watched nationally.

District 18's boundaries were changed during the redistricting process that followed the last Census and now take in an area from downtown and the South Tampa peninsula north to the county line. The district has a slight plurality of Democrats but votes as a swing district. Hillary Clinton won it by five points in 2016.

The harshest rhetoric during Friday's forum was over guns.

Young called herself a "staunch supporter" of a bill the Legislature passed this year in response to the Parkland school massacre. She noted that the bill bans rifle purchases by those under 21, adds mental health funding for schools, and allows law officers to confiscate guns from those considered violence risks.

Hillsborough County has now recorded 20 confiscations, she said.

"Isn't that hilarious?" Cruz responded. "This woman sent out a mailer (showing herself) lying across the (Second) Amendment with an assault rifle with a triple A rating from the NRA. But now all of a sudden she's in a blue seat, she's changing her story."

Cruz repeated her accusation that Young ducked votes on crucial amendments to the Parkland bill, including one that would have banned assault weapons.

"When the nation was watching, when the students of Parkland were there … she ran and hid," Cruz said, "because she is owned by the NRA."

Young denied that, even though she has acknowledged publicly in the past that she missed votes on the assault weapons ban and two other amendments that would have added gun restrictions to the bill.

In Friday's debate, though, she pointed to the Journal of the Senate, which shows her casting a vote on the assault weapons ban.

In fact, Young did miss the votes when the amendments came up on the Senate floor during an unusual, eight-hour long Saturday session, saying later she had other legislative business to attend to.

But as legislators are allowed to do, she had her votes recorded later, according to the Senate website. Such votes can't alter the outcome, but Young voted with the majority against all three amendments.

Young blasted Cruz for voting against the final bill, a measure she called historic.

Cruz and some other Democrats said the bill didn't go far enough and objected to provisions for arming teachers and other school personnel.

Responding to an environmental question, Cruz blamed Republicans including Young for the algae scourge.

"The green algae bloom you see, you can attribute to those in power that cut the funding for water management, that cut the environmental funding year after year … while we (Democrats) stood in the back of the room and screamed," Cruz said, referring to floor seats for minority Democrats at the back of the legislative chambers.

Young responded that she's been a leader in passing environmental legislation since she was first elected to the state House in 2010. She said she intends to file legislation aimed at controlling nutrient runoff into Lake Okeechobee, the source of the algae, and emphasized her other green credentials. These include pushing legislation unsuccessfully in each of the last two sessions to ban oil and gas fracking.

Cruz also blasted Young for what she portrayed as a campaign by Young and other Republicans to privatize public schools. Young said her actions show how she "embraces" the educational choice movement.

Contact William March at wemarch@tampabay.com