Election 2022: Webster Barnaby attempts to deny deep-rooted Rick Karl a Florida House seat

State Rep. Webster Barnaby, who squeaked out a 30-vote victory over another incumbent representative, Elizabeth Fetterhoff, in a hotly contested Republican primary, now faces a Democratic opponent with deep ties in Volusia County.

Rick Karl, a DeLand attorney and former director of aviation and economic resources for Volusia County, says he's running as a "serious person" willing to roll up his sleeves to face "serious problems" in Florida.

"I'm not doing this for fun," Karl said in an interview this week. "This is probably the most competitive House race in the state."

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The two are running in District 29, newly remapped by the Legislature to cover a large swath of West Volusia, including DeLand and Deltona. The district is considered competitive, comprised of 34.3% Republicans, 33% Democrats and 30.8% no-party affiliation voters, so Karl believes he has a shot at knocking off the incumbent.

Like most other Republicans statewide, Barnaby has a fundraising advantage, but a closer look shows some interesting patterns.

Through Oct. 7, Barnaby's campaign had attracted more dollars, $254,000, to Karl's $53,000. Barnaby spent more than $180,000 before the August primary to defeat Fetterhoff.

Since the primary, he has raised just over $58,000 — but nearly $46,000 of that comes from either the Florida House Republican Committee or the Republican Party of Florida. Barnaby received $7,175 from 16 Volusia County contributors.

Excluding $10,000 Karl put into his campaign, he raised more than $53,000, with more than $4 of every $5 coming from Volusia County.

Karl noted support he has from six former Volusia County Council members, some of whom are Republicans, as well as other longstanding GOP voters, including his own campaign manager, Bill Olivari, a retired accountant.

"When push comes to shove, it's probably more important to have more money ... but there's an argument to be made if you are getting a lot of money from smaller donors in your own district. That's a sign of strength," said Aubrey Jewett, associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.

Barnaby: Pro-life Christian conservative

Barnaby did not agree to an interview with The News-Journal. He directed questions to a spokesperson who did not respond to emailed questions.

But during an interview before the Aug. 23 primary, Barnaby said he effectively brought home the bacon.

"The latest appropriations show that I requested $14.7 million for Volusia County ... and I received almost exactly $14.7 million," Barnaby said. "You want results? Webster Barnaby delivers results."

He proclaimed his pride in Facebook posts about winning an Award for Conservative Excellence from the American Conservative Union at last February's CPAC event in Orlando and the First Principles Award from the Florida Family Policy Council, an organization that professes to protect the lives of the unborn and marriage from "LGBT activists."

He also voted in favor of the controversial Parents' Rights in Education law, which among other things barred classroom discussion in grades K-3 about sexual orientation and gender identity, topics many parents believe should be reserved for older children at home. Critics have dubbed the law the "Don't Say Gay" bill and argue it violates the First Amendment and has a chilling effect on conversations beyond elementary school.

Barnaby's views are shaped by his faith in Christianity, as he is an ordained minister who has previously given invocations at Donald Trump rallies. A former Deltona city commissioner who left in 2014 — in the middle of his first term — to run unsuccessfully for Volusia County Council, Barnaby is also a board member at Trinity Christian Academy, a Deltona school

He routinely posts pro-life memes on Facebook, including one showing infants and declaring "Every Child, Born and Unborn, is a Sacred Gift from God."

Prior to this year's session, Barnaby filed an abortion bill that would have been far stricter than the one passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. Styled after a Texas law, his bill would have banned abortions when a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected by an ultrasound, usually around six weeks after conception.

The leaders of Barnaby's party did not give his abortion bill a hearing, but instead passed a bill reducing the period for legal abortion from 24 to 15 weeks of gestation.

Prior to the primary, Barnaby said he did not intend to file another "heartbeat" abortion bill.

"No, I'm not going to be pushing for anything other than working with the leaders in the House of Representatives to fulfill the agenda of our governor, the great Gov. Ron DeSantis and Speaker Paul Renner," Barnaby said.

He said DeSantis and Renner have "pledged" to offer pro-life legislation in some form, but the GOP leaders have been vague about what that might be.

Karl said the 15-week ban is unacceptable.

"It makes no exceptions for rape or incest, and that's just cruel," he said. "To have a 13- or 15-year-old child who's been subjected to rape or incest and to force her to carry that to term is just cruel to me. At a minimum, we need to carve out an exception for that."

He suspects the 2022 law is "just a foot in the door," as the Supreme Court's overturning of the Roe v. Wade protection of women's health rights allows states to limit or outright ban abortions.

Karl said Florida's state Constitution guarantees citizens a right to privacy and the state Supreme Court has a precedent on the books recognizing "there's nothing more private than a woman's decision to carry to term."

On migrant flights, immigration 'invasion'

Barnaby, a salesman, longtime Deltona resident and naturalized citizen born in England, was elected to serve as a state representative for the Deltona area in 2020 and served one term before redistricting forced him into a primary with Fetterhoff.

He made it clear in March where he stands on migrants crossing the border into the United States without proper paperwork.

“I came to America the correct way,” Barnaby said, as quoted by the Associated Press. "This is all about enforcement. This is all about stopping those people that are illegally bringing people ... directly to Florida from being able to do that."

He called the illegal movement of migrants into states like Florida "nothing short of an invasion."

Barnaby joined Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference Sept. 16 in an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University hangar. The governor announced funding for new workforce education programs at state colleges and elsewhere, but spent the last half of the event defending his decision earlier in the week to greenlight a $600,000-plus flight for 48 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Crestview, Florida, then on to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

DeSantis said he was aiming to keep migrants from arriving in Florida. He used some of $12 million provided by the Legislature to "transport unauthorized aliens of this state."

Karl found the Martha's Vineyard flight "grotesque," as many of the migrants were "misled" into getting on the plane.

"That's outrageous to me and I think it's illegal," Karl said. "We're Americans. We're better than this. ... Immigrants have traditionally provided a core part of our economy and in our agricultural industry. Migrant workers provide inexpensive labor and it keeps the price of food down in an inflationary environment."

Karl: 'Mainstream,' pro-business, 'voice of reason'

Karl comes from a family of Volusia County community leaders. He's the son of the late Fred Karl, a former state representative, senator and state Supreme Court justice and the grandson of Mary Karl, founder of a vocational school that later was folded into the future Daytona State College.

"It's real easy to sit and be a demagogue and pontificate about the need to have lower taxes or stop immigrants or whatever you want to say," Karl said. "Governing is hard. I ran the Daytona Beach International Airport and oversaw economic development for 12 years. You have to get the facts and make rational decisions. That's why I'm running, to be a voice of reason."

At the airport, he said he oversaw $93 million worth of improvements, from runways and taxiways to baggage handling to an Aircraft Rescue Firefighting station.

His experience in economic development leaves him hungry to support programs such as GrowFL, an organization that aims to help entrepreneurs "take their companies to the next level."

"I am a mainstream business lawyer, for heaven's sake," Karl said. "When it comes down to doing things that support businesses, especially small business ... I'm all over it."

Karl also has an eye on the sanctity of elections.

"I am worried about our democracy," he said. "The erosion of norms and the push for pure power has taken precedent over our institutions, and it's very troubling to me. I hope we can wake up the voters in the country and stop some of these conspiracy theories that are going on."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Election 2022: It's Webster Barnaby v. Rick Karl for House District 29