House District 35: Race pits political newcomer Rishi Bagga against experienced Fred Hawkins

A newly drawn statehouse district spanning east Orange, Lake Nona down into St. Cloud pits a high-profile Republican and a first-time candidate Democrat, in a race set up to be one of the region’s most competitive.

Both Fred Hawkins Jr., a Republican state representative, and Rishi Bagga, a Democrat attorney and hotelier, prevailed in three-way primaries.

But because of redistricting, technically there is no incumbent in the race, even though Hawkins is a sitting representative in another district. In the new district, about 80% of voters live in Orange.

It also tilts toward Democrats, according to MCI Maps. President Joe Biden won precincts within the boundaries by 5 points in 2020, and Andrew Gillum won them by 7 points in 2018.

But Hawkins holds a steep fundraising advantage — with about $420,000 banked between contributions to his campaign and a political committee supporting him, compared to Bagga’s $68,000.

Bagga, 39, who lives in east Orange County, is a civil attorney and owns a UCF-area hotel with his family. He was a former prosecutor in Miami. Hawkins, 55, was an Osceola County Commissioner prior to winning a seat in the Legislature.

On the issues

The starkest difference between the two candidates is on abortion rights, a topic Bagga said voters often ask him about. He said he’d support codifying protections that existed prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned into Florida law.

“I speak to women who are worried about losing their rights and about whether or not need an abortion or what their age is, they worry about their daughters,” he said.

Hawkins, who said in an interview he’s pro-life, voted for the Florida law banning most abortions after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape and incest.

Flooding from Hurricane Ian revealed the need to upgrade infrastructure built decades ago to control floodwaters, such as along Boggy Creek and in St. Cloud, Hawkins said. He also suggested to Gov. Ron DeSantis legislation that would allow the water management districts to control waterways during a state of emergency.

“We need to update and adjust how we’re controlling water,” he said.

Bagga said he’s glad Florida has been addressing resiliency issues but should acknowledge that climate change is a key factor in storms like Ian.

The storm also exemplified Florida’s crisis with homeowner’s insurance, which experts say could be toppled by damages from Ian.

Legislators had a special session in hopes of addressing the issue, which has seen companies leave the state, drop customers and raise premiums. Hawkins said the session didn’t go far enough to fix the issue, and further legislation is needed to address “frivolous lawsuits,” while still allowing people who are rightfully injured to seek damages.

“The frivolous lawsuits and one-way attorneys’ fees are crushing us in Florida,” he said.

Bagga agreed that tort reform is among the fixes needed, but the state should review if companies are adequately dipping into reserves.

“Last year, we were so focused on these culture war issues which is why we had to have the special session that we shouldn’t have needed to have,” he said.

Hawkins said he rarely hears about social issues from voters and that instead, people are focused on the economy, rising prices and inflation. He said House Republicans plan to bring forward a large tax-cut bill next year.

He also said he plans to support bills surrounding school safety as well as requiring student-athletes to be covered by EKGs, similar to Orange, Osceola and Brevard districts. That bill was filed last year, but legislators stripped that clause out and required CPR training.

Bagga said he supports Medicaid expansion, background checks for all firearms purchases and police transparency.

“I’m someone who believes we can have strong law enforcement … and at the same time be transparent and have fairness in policing,” he said.

Bagga also said he opposed the so-called Don’t Say Gay law signed last year, which Hawkins voted for.

There was one issue on which the candidates were on the same page: both see a need to boost wages for veteran teachers, amid a statewide shortage of educators.

GOP paints Bagga as ‘radical,’ he says are untrue

Some voters have received mail ads painting Bagga as “Radical Rishi,” who wants to “release criminals from prison,” and who “wants foreign nationals, illegal aliens and non-citizens to be able to vote.” Another, states he wants to allow “politicians to serve for life.”

Bagga said the claims are laughable.

“None of the policy positions that are on there are true,” he said. “I’m a former prosecutor; I put tons of criminals in jail, so that’s a little rich. … I’m actually trying to unseat a politician, so I don’t see it that way at all.”

On Facebook, he noted that Hawkins was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer in 2020, and was removed from his county commission post by DeSantis in 2020. The governor has since endorsed Hawkins’ campaign.

The charges were eventually dropped after completing a pre-trial diversion program.

Hawkins says anything in the ads about Bagga came from social media posts.

“Anything we’re saying about him is straight off his social media or interviews he’s given,” Hawkins said.

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