Florida House, Senate seats open due to Renner, Leek, Hutson getting termed out of office

They may be powerful, but they can't outlast their term limits.

So in 2024, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner and Rep. Tom Leek, chairman of the House budget committee, will bow out, opening their seats, districts 19 and 28, for any and all comers.

Meanwhile, Sen. Travis Hutson, chair of the fiscal policy committee, will also see his tenure come to an end. Leek is among those to file for Hutson's Senate District 7 seat.

Here's a look at who else is aiming to be on the ballot in Volusia and Flagler County legislative races next year: the Republicans who control all of the Volusia-Flagler county seats, and the Democrats who are trying to win back one or more.

District 19: Candidate exiting race to replace Renner

Flagler County Commissioner Donald O'Brien, the first person to enter the District 19 House race, told The News-Journal he is planning to exit before the start of the new year.

He did not say why, but his campaign has lost momentum.

O'Brien had raised about $25,000 − virtually all from Flagler County − when his campaign kicked off in February. But since he has only raised $2,500.

Meanwhile, one of O'Brien's opponents, James St. George, of St. Augustine, a physician, has raised nearly $275,000 in campaign contributions from about 100 fellow doctors, surgeons, medical political action committees and healthcare executives around the state. Additionally, a Friends of James St. George political committee has received $35,000, including $15,000 from the Florida Medical Association.

St. George will still have a primary opponent in Darryl Boyer, a 24-year-old former staffer for Renner and Rep. Webster Barnaby, R-Deltona who also helped with Sen. Corey Simon's 2022 campaign.

Meanwhile, Democrat Adam Morley, a St. Augustine businessman who was 0-for-5 in campaigns against Renner, is back for another attempt. He owns Genung's Fish Camp, a historic bait shop and is a licensed master boat captain. Reversing trends away from home rule governance and working for clean water policies are among his key issues.

FSU grad would bring youthful perspective to Legislature

Boyer is running a grassroots campaign, intending to qualify by petition. He's raised about $10,000 and given himself a $10,000 loan.

He agrees that the money amassed by St. George is a high hurdle for any candidate to overcome, but believes it is possible because the majority of his support has come from within the district.

“I’m not put up by any interest or special interest. I'm put up by the people in my hometown,” he said. “... It’s a marathon and not a sprint. As people get to know me, and as the voters and donors meet me, I think that they’ll be inclined to support my candidacy.”

Boyer's biography states he was born to a mother who struggled with addiction and domestic abuse and he was passed from foster home to foster home until he was 3, when he was adopted by a Flagler County family.

In an interview, he declined to share his parents’ names but said: “They have been nothing but loving and supportive since the day they adopted me. My grandfather, who served two tours in Vietnam, always told me: No deposit, no return. You only get out of life what you put into it. And I live by those same morals to this day.”

Boyer, who works at a law firm, Woolsey Morcom, earned a master’s degree in applied American politics and policy at Florida State University after majoring in political science at the University of North Florida.

He said his conservative political leaning is rooted in principles including individual freedom, limited government and free markets.

“I believe that our American history exemplifies great achievements. In 1969 we put a man on the moon and in 1908, we had a Model-T Ford,” Boyer said. “And I think that the American dream of my generation almost seems as if it’s fading away, and it’s my responsibility as a young conservative to ignite the American dream once again amongst my generation and … for all generations.”

Retiring vein doctor says he can bring insight to healthcare policy

St. George, 65, said he is retiring as a physician in a few weeks and has sold his Jacksonville practice, St. Johns Vein Center, which he started and grew to four offices with nearly 40 employees.

The Massachusetts native has been in Florida for 22 years. He is a board-certified interventional radiologist and vascular specialist who has also served on the faculty at several medical schools, including Harvard and Dartmouth.

Before starting his vein clinic, St. George worked in hospitals, routinely getting 3 a.m. emergency calls and working on trauma teams to stabilize patients who were injured in car wrecks and by gunshots. He called it a "hard lifestyle" that "took its toll."

St. George said for a time he was “not really dialed into politics,” but his involvement as a delegate with the Florida Medical Association, crafting policy to help patients and physicians, drew him toward it, he said.

The FMA helped push legislation to offer loan forgiveness to medical students who agree to stay in Florida to help with the physician shortage and to fund more post-graduate residencies.

“It’s really different from the (American Medical Association). Really, the FMA here is more about helping physicians, where the AMA is really a much more liberal organization. They’re not very effective. I’m not even a member.”

St. George supports Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approach to education.

“The role of teachers is to create the next generation and to prepare them to be adults in the world, to deal with life and I don’t think that’s currently happening,” he said.

Florida House 27: Marion County Republicans vie to replace McClain

Rep. Stan McClain, an Ocala Republican, has represented a district that includes portions of Marion and Lake counties, as well as much of northwest Volusia, running along the St. Johns River to DeBary, but he's also reached his limit of terms.

Two Republicans are seeking to replace him.

Steve Shives is the owner of a camper manufacturing business from Summerfield, an unincorporated Marion County community. He promises to "wage war against woke-left extremism" while lamenting that Christians are considered fascists.

And Beckie Sirolli of Belleview, also a Marion County city, is a retired police lieutenant. Her platform pledges to end human trafficking, improve Florida's public records access and fight indoctrination in schools.

Florida House 28: Ormond Beach mayor wants to fill Leek's shoes

In the race to fill the vacancy left by Leek in House District 28 − which covers northeast Volusia County along the Atlantic coast between Ormond-by-the-Sea and Daytona Beach Shores − Bill Partington is the lone Republican to file thus far.

Partington, an assistant public defender, has been mayor of Ormond Beach since 2016.

Democrat John Navarra, who unsuccessfully challenged Leek in 2022, is also running. He is a teacher at Pine Ridge High School.

Florida House 29: Webster Barnaby remains unopposed

In the 2022 Republican primary, Rep. Webster Barnaby defeated then-Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff by just 30 votes for the newly created house district covering much of West Volusia.

Barnaby won the general election against Democrat Rick Karl easily and thus far faces no competition for 2024.

Florida House 30: Chase Tramont has drawn a Democratic opponent

Just one year into his first term, Rep. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange, will likely face at least one Democratic opponent. Tramont is a senior pastor and a former teacher who cruised to victories in the 2022 Republican primary and general elections.

Kelly Anne Smith, a Democrat who has lived in Port Orange for about 20 years, filed in October to challenge Tramont. She said she is a university professor with a doctoral degree in theory who believes she can do better than Tramont has on affordability issues.

Senate District 7: Leek met with Republican, Democrat challengers

Leek, an attorney who serves as chief legal officer for Foundation Risk Partners, a Daytona Beach insurance firm, will complete his eighth and final year in the Florida House in 2024. He is an Ormond Beach Republican who has served in the leadership of each House speaker during his tenure.

Leek has led efforts to make Florida more "law enforcement-friendly," ban vaccine passports, expand school choice, promote economic development and "strengthen the family."

In the Republican primary, he will face Gerry James, a St. Augustine golf instructor and financial advisor. He calls himself a "constitutional conservative with common sense, a true patriot who will defend our freedoms."

Democrat George "T" Hill of St. Augustine, a "gender-fluid transwoman" and "self-made millionaire" who started Marble Today, a Palatka countertop and cabinet manufacturing company is also running. She is a former Republican who believes in free trade, less government regulation and lower taxes. "All humans are created equal, guns kill people, and abortion is health care," she says.

Lower Taxes: Florida lawmaker has proposed eliminating local business taxes; Volusia County already has

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Who are the new candidates entering Florida Legislature political arena?