Of all the races this cycle, the campaign in Florida’s Second Congressional District is perhaps the best example of a Democrat being held accountable for blindly following their party leadership and ignoring the best interests of constituents. While Allen Boyd may have been effective when he was first elected 14 years ago, since Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker, he has back her liberal agenda over 96% of the time. On November 2nd, voters will have the chance to show Boyd how they really feel.
Recent polling has consistently given Republican Steve Southerland an edge over Boyd, and the race was moved from “Toss Up” to “Lean Republican” just a few days ago. Boyd’s reckless Washington record has not only led to more government intervention and billions in wasted spending, but has even cost his own district 700 jobs. Floridians know they deserve better, and the Second District is a prime pick up opportunity for the GOP - bringing us one step closer to firing Nancy Pelosi and putting America back to work.
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Original Post (09/08/2010):
Although many think of Florida as a state of beaches and amusement parks, the area around the state’s capitol is a unique combination of lowland history and Dixie tradition. The second district is home to the capitol city of Tallahassee. The district is a strong bastion of conservative values and has a cook PVI rating of R+6. The area is home to one of the highest concentrations of native Floridians in the entire state, despite recent population growth. A sizeable proportion of local jobs are related to the state offices located throughout the metropolitan area.
The district has been represented by a true supporter of big government, Democrat Allen Boyd. Although he has made a career of calling himself a “Blue Dog Democrat,” his real allegiances have been on display since President Obama’s election. Boyd has supported the president and his House ally, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on many of their major initiatives including the failed stimulus, the National Energy Tax, and the disastrous Medicare-cutting government takeover of healthcare.
And his support for these dangerously liberal policies has brought this conservative district little assistance: unemployment plagues the Panhandle and Big Bend, and Boyd has proven that the only job he is willing to go to lengths to protect is his own. North Florida voters have been left wondering how much farther from his self-professed “independence” Boyd can stray – and they’ve been wondering about Boyd’s hypocritical statements about Social Security, too.
Fortunately, voters have a strong candidate to oppose Boyd this fall. Steve Southerland is a local businessman whose family has lived in Bay County for generations – he’s a proud part of the native Floridian tradition. Steve is a newcomer to politics, and has spent his time helping the Second Congressional District more than cronies in Washington. He previously chaired the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida and the Bay County Chamber of Commerce.
His experiences in local community service have given Steve a good grasp of issues affecting North Florida. He’s committed to job creation, meaningful tax reform that allow constituents to keep more of their earned money, and keeping promises to senior citizens (remember Boyd’s confusing statements on Social Security? And his flip-flop on Obamacare that cut hundreds of millions to Medicare?).
Voters fed up with Boyd’s hypocrisy and stubborn determination to impress the Democrat leadership in Washington have a choice this year in what is widely considered a “toss-up” race –we think they’ll choose Steve and hope you will, too.
You can find more information on Steve’s campaign on his website, or you can follow his campaign on facebook and twitter.
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