A Day in DeSoto County

I am running to be the elected Public Defender of a three-county area: Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto. I grew up in Tampa and my grandparents lived in Fort Myers. For some reason we would always travel through Arcadia, the DeSoto County seat, and stop for an orange Fanta in town. Even as a child, the majestic courthouse made quite an impression upon me. Over the course of my career, I have been privileged to handle many cases in that courthouse. Judge Parker, Judge Hall, and the Clerk of the Court Mitzy McGavic have always treated me with courtesy and respect. Jurors in DeSoto are a great mix of ranchers, retirees, working folks, and people of all races, ages and beliefs. I really enjoy practicing law in DeSoto County.

I also like campaigning there. This past Saturday was the big political rally that had been planned for some time. I arrived in town early so that I could have breakfast at Wheeler's cafe which is owned by one of the candidates for Sheriff, Carl Willey. Carl is running against Will Wise and the incumbent Sheriff, Vernon Kean, in the Democratic primary. While this is the hottest race going, all of the candidates have conducted themselves in a civl manner as far as I can tell. There are also a couple of closely contested County Commission races as well.

The rally was scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. and at about 9:45 the skies opened up, the rain fell sideways, and lightning began crashing around the fairgrounds. After about a half hour though, it let up enough for people to start arriving and for the candidates to set up their tables. Ultimately there were nearly 200 people that braved the elements to come talk politics. The crowd responded positively to all the speeches and cheered their favorites with gusto. Afterwards I had lunch at Slim's barbecue and picked up three bottles of sauce for Regina, before heading home.

The rally culminated a busy and productive week. National Night Out Against Crime drew big crowds in North Port and in Sarasota and I was fortunate to attend both events. Jefferson Apartments, a beautiful building for lower income seniors near my house, hosted a great candidate debate for Sarasota County Commission that they graciously allowed me to crash. And I had an interesting debate with my opponents at the Manatee County Commission chambers that will be broadcast on METV over the next couple of weeks. We have several additional debates this week, and I will be at the NAACP youth forum for candidates on Saturday afternoon.