At the age of 12
State Senator
At the end of September, more than 392,000 voters live in the district, with more than 163,000 registered as
Berman is a lawyer by trade and Byers is an adjuster, beekeeper and founder of Hilltop Christian Fellowship in
Among his legislative priorities, Berman lists affordable health care, protecting access to abortion, funding public schools, climate change and preventing gun violence.
During her dozen years in office, which she spent both in the state
But there is still work to be done, she said, such as expanding Medicaid and passing Greyson’s Law, which seeks to revoke or suspend joint custody if the child or the other parent thought he might be a victim of domestic violence. But, Berman acknowledged, accomplishing these things and other Democratic priorities, including protecting abortion rights, can be difficult under the governor.
“I couldn’t be in the Legislative Assembly if I wasn’t a half-full drinker,” Berman said. “If the governor gets a term, if he wins in the double digits that I’ve been hearing about lately, I think it’s going to be a really tough session for the minority party. And I think there’s going to be very little compromise. because the governor will be preparing to run for president.”
Byers’ main issues include home insurance and HOAs, in addition to voter fraud. He believes election supervisors should be able to find out how each voter voted as a form of auditing, and while he homeschools his children, he felt it was important to invest in public schools by incentivizing teachers with better pay.
If elected, Byers believes his party affiliation would work to his advantage. He ran for that seat to serve as the voters’ choice. “If I’m up there as a Republican, I at least have a majority that if I can influence and they like me, we’ll make a difference,” he said.
The abortion issue was shaping up to be the Legislature’s top issue in the upcoming session — something Berman said she hopes voters won’t forget, saying DeSantis’ re-election would ensure that the abortion would be “even more limited”. But Hurricane Ian and the property insurance market will certainly change the legislative direction, both candidates said.
Berman said potential solutions to the insurance crisis include establishing a national catastrophe fund, similar to the state fund that partially reimburses insurers for losses caused by hurricanes. She would also like to require insurance companies that provide automobile insurance in
Byers, who worked with homeowners affected by Hurricane Michael in 2018, said he felt insurance companies were “greedy” and “out of touch” and lawmakers were just repeating insurance companies’ claims. assurance that frivolous lawsuits were affecting their bottom line. .
“The hand gets greedy. The hand gets stuck in the cookie jar. We need them to drop some cookies so you can get your hand out of the cookie jar,” he said. “The solution is to make them understand that the risk-reward ratio doesn’t have to be so big for insurance companies.”
Age and residence: 64, lives in
Main priorities of the campaign: guarantee affordable and quality health care, protect women’s rights and access to abortion, fully fund traditional public schools, fight against climate change, prevent armed violence.
Professional background: Lawyer in trusts and estates; former Legislative Assistant to the former
Political context:
Education:
Criminal history: none
Amendments:
Finances: Berman raised almost
Age and residence: 54 years old, lives in
Top campaign priorities: voter integrity, home insurance and HOA issues.
Professional background: Founder of Hilltop Christian Fellowship, beekeeper, adjuster.
Political background: This is Byers’ first candidacy.
Education: High school diploma; studied computer engineering for 3.5 years at
Criminal history: none
Approvals: Restore Liberty, Stand for Health Freedom and the
Finances: Byers raised close to