State House candidates outline priorities for Florida's future
Two lawyers are vying to replace term-limited State Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, as the legislator from Florida House of Representatives District 71.
The district encompasses west Manatee County from Terra Ceia south and includes a sliver of the city of Sarasota flanking the Tamiami Trail, as well as all of Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key and Lido Key. It includes parts or all of seven municipalities.
On Nov. 6, voters will choose either Will Robinson, a west Bradenton resident and a Republican, or Tracy Pratt, a Bayshore Gardens resident and a Democrat.
The contenders offer differing approaches to governing and what they think should be the state’s role regarding education, gun control and other topics.
Although she grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan, Pratt moved to this area in 1994 and attended Manatee Community College. She spent a few years in New Orleans while enrolled in law school and her husband completed a medical residency. They moved to Manatee in 2012 and reside in her husband’s childhood home in Bayshore Gardens. Their children are the fourth generation of Pratts in Manatee and the fifth in their maternal grandmother's branch of the family.
Her involvement with community and other organizations includes the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and its Judicial Nomination Oversight Committee, Healthy Start Manatee, the American Civil Liberties Union, Project 180 (which helps released prisoners transition into society), the Sarasota Cooperative Learning Project and various book, food and clothing donation drivers.
Her endorsements include Attorney General candidate Sean Shaw, State Rep. Margaret Good, Equality Florida, Emily’s List, Progressive Sarasota and Planned Parenthood’s Political Action Committee.
As of her most recent campaign finance report, she has raised $53,483 — including $20,000 from herself. Donors include former Sarasota City Commissioner and Equality Florida board member Ken Shelin, Patricia Benson, the former chairwoman of the Democratic Executive Committee in Manatee, and Sheryl Wilson, the current chairwoman, former legislative candidate Arlene Sweeting, retired judge Scott Brownell, Sarasota County School Board member Shirley Brown, the Democratic Women’s Club of Manatee County, former Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen, environmentalists Sandra Ripberger, Barbara Hines and Geraldine Swormstedt, and several attorneys including Christopher Pratt, Adam Tebrugge, Connie Mederos-Jacobs and Layton Robinson.
With Republicans outnumbering Democrats in the district, Pratt regards herself as “the underdog.” Yet she also believes she can sway many independents to cast ballots in her favor if she educates them about her platform.
“I think people are ready for a change” in state leadership, Pratt said. “We should not be separated by party lines.”
She believes the science is clear that climate change and sea level rise are occurring. “To pretend that it is not happening is not a solution.”
She wants Florida to be on the forefront for reducing carbon emissions and promoting solar, wind and tidal energy.
Pratt says she mostly differs from Robinson in “prioritizing the environment. … I’m not an election-year environmentalist.”
She says she refuses to accept donations from “corporate polluters or big developers.”
She wants more emphasis by state government on researching and preventing red tide outbreaks, which she believes are aggravated by nutrient runoff.
“I’m generally opposed to unfunded mandates,” Pratt said. Yet she thinks the state can provide grants and other incentives to encourage communities to get off septic tanks, which can contribute to pollution of groundwater and can intensify red tide.
To address the fouled water of Lake Okeechobee, she wants to revive a task force investigating algae blooms, “move forward with building the reservoir south of the lake, limit construction that has staunched the southbound flow of water and regulate agriculture run-off.”
She is critical of school voucher programs and for-profit charter schools that divert funding from public schools and “do not maintain the same level of accountability to the taxpayer.” With proper funding, she said, “we could have the best public schools in America.”
Her family in Michigan own guns and she is not anti-firearms, she noted.
Yet she says the nation is experiencing “an epidemic of gun violence.” She wants “common-sense gun safety measures” that include closing “the private seller loophole” that allows individuals, rather than retailers, to sell firearms without background checks.
She will not be surprised if the National Rifle Association tries to thwart her campaign. “I am sure the NRA will know my name.”
She wants trained law enforcement on campuses and does not want schools to “feel pressured” into arming their personnel.
She wants to expand Medicaid to cover more of Florida’s uninsured population. She does not support requiring those recipients to perform community service. “Many people on Medicaid are members of the ‘working poor,’ meaning they are already working low-wage jobs or are unable to work for various reasons. Also, the requirement of agency monitoring and administration to ensure that people are working would be costly and potentially ineffective.”
“I don’t see health care as a privilege for the rich.”
She believes the state has dismantled growth management laws, which has contributed to urban sprawl. “While I support decisions being made at the local level for community planning, there must be state oversight to ensure that basic community needs are being met and sensitive environmental areas are protected.”
Pratt said she is running to benefit her children and future grandchildren. District 71, being coastal, is “a vulnerable part of the state.” She wants voters who approach her at forums to “bring me your toughest questions and concerns.”
Although he is endorsed by Boyd, Robinson supports the law that prohibited the legislator from seeking another term. “I think we should have term limits at all levels of government.” The requirement infuses “new blood” into the political process. “It gives someone like me a chance to run.”
Robinson’s grandparents hailed from Kentucky. They initially moved to Sarasota, but Robinson says they decided to relocate to Bradenton because they preferred that city’s tap water.
His grandfather and uncle founded Robby’s Sporting Goods, which was sold in 1988 and later merged with Champs Sports.
His family is best known for contributing much of the environmentally sensitive land now known as Manatee County’s Robinson Preserve.
Robinson’s community involvement includes work on behalf of the city of Bradenton’s Downtown Development Authority, the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Manatee Young Professionals, Manatee County Young Republicans, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center Board of Governors, the 12th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and other organizations.
He cites a lengthy list of endorsements that include Senate President Designate Bill Galvano, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells, Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, Suncoast Professional Firefighters and Paramedics, State Attorney Ed Brodsky, Public Defender Larry Eger, former Congressman Dan Miller, Sarasota County Commissioner Paul Caragiulo and Manatee County Commissioners Vanessa Baugh, Betsy Benac and Stephen Jonsson.
As of his most recent campaign finance report, Robinson — who announced his campaign more than a year ahead of Pratt — has collected $295,350. He started his account with $100,000 from himself. Other donors include auto dealers Cox Chevrolet, Cox Mazda and Robert Firkins, ZNS Engineering, Fawley Bryant Architects, retailer Robert Beall, Manatee County Commission candidate Misty Servia, beer distributor John Saputo, West Coast Tomato, Manatee County School Board member Charlie Kennedy, business consultant Mac Carraway, developer Hugh Culverhouse’s Palmer Ranch Holdings, Bradenton City Councilman Gene Gallo, developer Pat Neal, Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, Florida Home Builders Association, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, former Manatee County Commissioners Ron Getman and Donna Hayes, Manatee Memorial Hospital, developer Whiting Preston and several attorneys including Morgan Bentley, Robert Blalock, Scott Rudacille, Edwin Mulock and David Wilcox.
The west Bradenton resident expresses “no doubt” that climate change is occurring.
He said Florida voters support land conservation and we should “use public money to save our most precious resources” that could be threatened by sea level rise. “I prefer that direction rather than more regulations.”
He believes a tax on carbon-based fuels would “destroy our economy.” Yet he supports greater efforts to shift toward renewable energy sources and opposes oil drilling off Florida’s coast.
Robinson thinks Pratt takes “the wrong approach” to stemming gun violence. The massacre at the high school in Parkland was a result of “a failure of government at all levels” to recognize the shooter had mental health issues and get him help. “All the signs were missed.”
He wants to strengthen mental health efforts and harden schools rather than pass another gun control law “that the criminal is not going to follow.”
He believes the guardian programs some school districts created to enhance campus security are “an admirable first step.” Ultimately, however, he wants certified law enforcement officers with arrest powers on campuses. Their presence is not just for security, he said, but to serve as role models for youth.
Regarding red tide, he suggests a “fund, educate and punish” approach.
Although red tide is “naturally occurring,” he agrees that human-generated pollution can worsen it. He wants the state to fund more research. “We are 50 years behind the times in red tide forecasting,” which he thinks should be like current efforts to predict the path of hurricanes. “We don’t know where it is coming from and where it is going.”
He wants the public to be educated about fertilizer runoff and other contributors to algae blooms that they can control. He agrees with Pratt that communities need to get away from “leaky septic tanks.”
The state should not be lax with industrial polluters, he added. “Whatever entity is polluting our waterways should be punished and fined.”
Robinson believes the state should have a role in growth management strictly in matters of “state interest,” such as hurricane evacuations and coastal protections. Yet he believes most land-use matters should be handled locally. “Why does Tallahassee need to get involved in a five-acre comp plan amendment in northwest Bradenton?”
He opposes expanding Medicaid. “I want to get people off Medicaid, get them jobs and better private health insurance.”
Although he thinks there should be exceptions such as pregnant mothers and the disabled, he supports “work requirements, job training or work-related education for able-bodied adults receiving government assistance.”
Having attending a Catholic elementary school and a public middle and high school, Robinson describes himself as “a product of school choice.” He does not want to return to an era when families who cannot afford private tuition had to send their children to the public school to which they had been assigned. He wants “maximum choice” for families and believes “charter schools can offer an amazing alternative.”
“That doesn’t mean we should not appropriate funding for our public schools,” he added.
He regards Pratt as an advocate of “tax and spend policy.”
He considers himself as the opposite, a candidate who wants to limit the state government’s grip and let the taxpayer keep more of his or her “hard-earned money.”
He especially wants to make Florida’s economy stronger. “I don’t want us to go back to where we were eight years ago with high unemployment and homes underwater.”
He wants voters to realize that he is the homegrown choice. “My roots go deep in Manatee County. To represent your community you have to know your community.”
Tracy Pratt
Age: 46
Political Party: Democrat
Occupation: Attorney specializing in criminal law and public interest (civil rights, legal aid)
Family: Married with two children
Education: Manatee Community College, associate degree in liberal arts; Eckerd College, bachelor’s degree in human development; Loyola New Orleans School of Law
Email and website: tracybpratt@gmail.com, votetracypratt.com
Comment: “Floridians deserve a representative that responds to the people, not the money from special interest groups. I am not a career politician. I am a mother and a public interest attorney and I will continue to fight for common-sense solutions to the issues we all care about. I know that together we can protect Florida’s future.”
Will Robinson Jr.
Age: 42
Political Party: Republican
Occupation: Attorney specializing in real estate, zoning and development
Family: Single
Education: Bachelor’s in finance and certificate in international relations, University of Notre Dame; Stetson University College of Law
Email and website: will@robinsonforflorida.com, robinsonforflorida.com
Comment: “I am running to keep Florida moving forward. We have some important challenges ahead of us and need a leader that understands our community. I was born in Bradenton, like my father. My grandparents moved here in 1948 from Pikeville, Kentucky. I went to Manatee High School, where I served as student body president. I have lived in Bradenton my entire life and have been blessed to be involved in the most important issues that our area has faced. To represent a community, you need to understand your community. I love our area and want to see us succeed in Tallahassee.”
