ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – In what could be one of this year’s highest-profile legislative primary elections, former St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar has opened a campaign account to run for a seat that will be vacated by term-limited Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, according to News 6′s partners at WJXT in Jacksonville.
Shoar, a Republican, opened the account Friday, according to the state Division of Elections website.
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Florida House Appropriations Chairman Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, is also running for the Senate District 7 seat and has gained support from Republican leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and incoming Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula.
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Other candidates with open accounts in Senate District 7 are Republican Gerry James, Democrat George Anthony Hill II and unaffiliated candidate Michael Levone Gist.
In May, a political action committee known as The Truth Matters started running attack ads against Leek. Not much was known about the PAC at the time, as it had just recently formed and had not yet reported its campaign contributions. Leek, who was elected to the Florida House in 2016 and recently served as the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, was attacked as being “liberal.”
The treasurer of The Truth Matters, Eric Robinson of Venice, Fla., is also listed as the campaign treasurer for Shoar’s campaign. Robinson has had ties over the years to various prominent Republicans in state politics and Republican-aligned political committees.
The district up for grabs is made up of St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and part of Volusia counties.
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Shoar was first elected St. Johns County sheriff in 2004 and served until 2020. He joined the law firm Woolsey Morcom in 2023 as director of investigations, according to the firm’s website.
Candidates will formally qualify this week for legislative races.
Primary elections will be held Aug. 20. The online site Florida’s Voice first reported Shoar’s candidacy last week.
“I will stand with [Former] President [Donald] Trump, as I did in 2016, and again in 2020, to stop illegal immigration, combat Biden’s inflation and get our insurance costs under control,” Shoar told Florida’s Voice. “Together, we will restore a sense of law and justice in our country.”
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“I am running for the Florida Senate because we need consistent conservative leaders who have the courage to stand for our shared values and fight back against the special interests and liberals who are destroying our country,” he said. “This is no time for half-measures.”
Shoar made headlines late last year when he was let go with a warning after St. Augustine Beach Police (SABP) said he ran a red light and was found with marijuana in his SUV.
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