State Rep. Kelly Skidmore faces challenge from Republican businesswoman
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Democratic State Rep. Kelly Skidmore faces a Republican businesswoman who once managed her father’s congressional campaign in Peru.
Skidmore and Dorcas Hernandez are seeking election in November to represent newly drawn House District 92, which covers western Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton between Aberdeen Golf & Country Club and Boca Winds.
More than 140,700 registered voters live in District 92, including 61,000 Democrats, about 37,300 Republicans and 39,400 voters without party affiliation.
Skidmore, who is the CEO of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, has been a state lawmaker for six years. If re-elected, Skidmore wants to focus on issues including health care, rising insurance costs and gun safety laws. She also hopes to push toward recognizing Florida as a “blue economy” by investing in water and coastal resources.
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“Two of my primary goals as an elected official have always been to enact thoughtful, equitable public policy and to defeat divisive, politically driven agendas,” Skidmore wrote in a questionnaire.
Hernandez runs a consulting firm for businesses and government officials coming to the United States from Central and South America. When she lived in Peru, she managed the political campaign of her father, Julio Rosas. She was also the public relations coordinator for the “Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas” rally in Peru, meaning “Don’t Mess With My Children."
The movement was a rallying cry against the country's Ministry of Education’s purported teaching of “gender ideology” in schools, a catch-all term that doesn’t have a clear definition, but has been used in various countries against LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights.
Hernandez said this movement started when parents were concerned that children were going to be taught gender identity in schools, believing those were discussions meant for the home or between adults. The country’s education minister said the aim was to support equal treatment of men and women, according to reports.
“I don’t mind it as an adult, but never push that to a minor,” Hernandez said, noting the movement was similar to Florida’s push for parental rights in education. “I don’t have a problem with that personally. I believe strongly in individual rights.”
If elected, Hernandez hopes to focus on public safety, education and growing businesses while protecting them from further restrictions that were put in place during the pandemic.
“We are not experts, but I would like to bring some new voice and new leadership,” Hernandez said. “We won’t solve every problem, but we’ll do our best to take care of our community.”
Skidmore pointed to one proud moment this past session when she and Pompano Beach Democrat state Rep. Patricia Williams worked with their Republican colleagues to change outdated language in the state’s child welfare laws that defined Black or mixed-race foster children as special needs.
Skidmore thinks that fellow Democrats will have their work cut out for them on the issue of abortion rights during the next legislative session, but following the devastation of Hurricane Ian, property insurance will be the top issue.
Hernandez said she wants to “bring solutions and bring opportunities to the table” on the insurance crisis, saying in a questionnaire that “we must reduce insurance costs and prohibit denying coverage on the age of a roof.”
Skidmore said she would support the creation of a national or multistate catastrophic fund, much like the one Florida has to help insurance companies pay for hurricane losses.
“What we’ve seen so far is help that was directed 100% toward the insurance companies, and we have since learned that that didn’t actually help them, because they are still leaving the state even with the $2 billion reinsurance fund being available to them,” she said, referring to measures developed over the special session this summer to address the insurance crisis. “It just depends on what the leadership presents as solutions.”
Kelly Skidmore
Age and residence: 59, lives in Boca Raton.
Top campaign priorities: Skidmore outlined five priorities in her re-election bid: health care, the economy, the environment, rising insurance costs and commonsense gun safety laws.
Professional history: She has served as the CEO of the Palm Beach County Medical Society since December 2020 and previously worked in public relations for the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.
Political background: Skidmore served as a state representative between 2007 and 2011, and returned to the Legislature in 2021. She has served on committees related to healthcare.
Education: Skidmore has an associate’s degree in communications from Palm Beach State College.
Criminal history: None.
Endorsements: Skidmore has a number of endorsements, including but not limited to: Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Joe Abruzzo, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County Public Defender Carey Haughwout, Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, five Palm Beach County commissioners and 25 of her lawmaker colleagues.
Finances: Skidmore has raised nearly $119,000 as of Oct. 7. More than half of the 148 individual contributions she has received are for $1,000, the highest an individual or business can contribute. Many of her contributions come from the agriculture and health care industries.
Dorcas Hernandez
Age and residence: 40, lives in Lake Worth Beach.
Top campaign priorities: Cutting inflation, creating high-paying jobs, supporting first responders, improving education, addressing the homeowners insurance crisis.
Professional history: Owns D International Consulting Corp., a consulting firm to arrange trips to the United States for Central and South American business executives and government officials.
Political background: Member of the Republican Executive Committee in Palm Beach County.
Education: Studied business, administration and marketing at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in Lima, Peru.
Criminal history: None
Endorsements: Republican Party of Palm Beach County, Republican Party of Florida, Republican State House Campaign Committee, Guardians of American History, Christian Family Coalition Florida.
Finances: Hernandez has raised $69,000, about half of which she loaned to herself, and has spent nearly $22,000. The money she raised came mostly from retired Florida residents, as well as $10,000 from the Republican Party of Palm Beach County and another $10,000 from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee.
Hannah Morse covers consumer issues for The Palm Beach Post. Drop a line at hmorse@pbpost.com, call 561-820-4833 or follow her on Twitter @mannahhorse.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: State Rep. Kelly Skidmore faces Republican Dorcas Hernandez in House race
