DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — The remaining candidates in the race for the District 5 state House seat have a bit of a history with one another.
Back in 2011, Karen Schoen met with then-District 7 Representative Brad Drake as a constituent requesting her legislator do anything possible to help her with a problem. She alleged her bank and title company had committed fraud, pledging to invest and then failing to do so. Drake did what he could, which was setting up a meeting with Attorney General Bill McCollum.
“I spent more time with her than any other constituent,” Drake said. “I met with her at three different places. I did everything I could as a state representative to help her. My staff worked with them at length.”
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Schoen said if she were in Drake’s shoes, she would have dug into the issue.
“I would expect to find out what was going on and why,” Schoen said.
Drake maintains his work with Schoen is an example of one of his biggest strengths in the first two terms with the Legislature. He said he will meet with any constituent and work to solve a problem no matter how small. He has an open door policy and he has no qualms with publishing his cellphone number in numerous locations.
He counts among his biggest legislative triumphs sponsorship of a bill that protected the right of students to talk about God in school speeches. A young girl was supposed to speak at her high school graduation but was prohibited by the school board.
“She made remarks in committee. She said she was going to thank God for her many blessings,” Drake said. “The school district adopted guidelines that took away liberties and freedom. These are the type of decisions that are very dangerous.”
Through conversations with residents in District 5 — which consists of Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington and northern Bay counties — Libertarian Schoen and Republican Drake have come to a consensus on a few of issues.
One of Schoen’s biggest issues is repealing Common Core test standards, also called Florida Sunshine State Standards. She is a former teacher who feels the standards are unnecessary and invasive.
“Common Core trains people what to think, not how to think,” Schoen said. “Common Core replaces the family with school, God with government and America with the United Nations.”
She said Drake voted for Common Core when he was in office.
“He voted for it without knowing what it is,” she said.
The vote was during the fall session in 2008 and Drake entered office in 2009. Regardless, Drake is ardently against Common Core.
“It’s creating problems where problems don’t exist,” Drake said. “Look at the way they’re teaching addition now. It’s not just two plus two anymore; it’s an eight-step process. I think simplicity works.”
Schoen and Drake are also against overregulation. For Schoen, it is insane that farmers cannot sell their goods directly to restaurants and the government is enforcing strict fishing regulations.
“I’m disgusted with regulation,” she said.
Drake had just as strong a stance on the federal red snapper guidelines.
“I think what the federal government has done is dumb,” Drake said. “I was out on a charter boat and there was more red snapper than I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even get to the grouper because of the snapper.”
Both Drake and Schoen are strong advocates for a fiscally conservative approach. Drake said he has never voted for a tax increase.
“I have a demonstrated record on tax rates,” Drake said.
Where the candidates differ is on infrastructure improvements and public and private partnerships. Drake said his primary platform is improving roads and infrastructure for the district, believing it is key for attracting manufacturing businesses. Drake has an advantage in this regard having served as chairman of the legislative Transportation Committee in his previous tenure.
“We don’t want to lack anything, so we lose out to Georgia and Alabama,” Drake said.
Schoen is not necessarily against infrastructure improvements but believes there should be measured oversight against unchecked spending
Drake also supports public and private partnerships as a way to encourage private sector investment into public projects. He said the legislator and Gov. Rick Scott have enough checks in place to make sure the state benefits from a particular project.
“If you cannot show measured return on investment, state of Florida will revoke that,” Drake said.
Schoen said private and public partnerships are just a way for private corporations to profit using public dollars. She prefers a traditional bidding system.
“I don’t mind if it’s done privately, but that’s something that should be bid on,” she said.
Really the difference between candidates can be boiled down to their general beliefs about government.
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“I don’t believe in zero government, but I do believe in limited government,” Drake said.
If elected, Schoen would be the only Libertarian in the house. She sees both Democrats and Republicans as a part of the same self-serving organism.
“I see two parties: the Republicrats and the Libertarians,” Schoen said.