Here's a very different midterms story coming out of Florida. An old friend of mine was considering running for the FL House as a Democrat against Chris Latvala (FL-67 Clearwater). She reached out Latvala and met him for lunch. Then continued to meet and became friends. She dropped out of the race but remained committed to keeping him accountable.
Chris LatvalaMay 3 at 5:46pm
Recently I learned a lesson in the way politics should be.
A few weeks ago, I found out I was probably going to be getting a very serious opponent. Though I had never met her she reached out and wanted to meet with me. I met her for lunch and what came next surprised us both. Instead of political adversaries trying to weigh each other out, we became fast friends who realized we shared the same views on quite a few issues. Our first lunch meeting lasted over 3 hours.
I told her then that many people I know seek office for the wrong reasons. There are many in both parties who run for office to be someone and not do something. That is not the case with Becca Tieder and I could tell that within minutes of first meeting her. Her heart is in the right place and she sincerely wants to make a change. And with her tenacity she will do just that. She has done that for many years speaking on college campuses and there is no doubt in my mind that she will do it one day as a public servant.
Becca and I have had a few meetings since our first lunch. She has asked me about votes I have taken, both the ones she agrees with me on and those she doesn’t. She believes some of my gun votes are good but not so much when it comes to my votes on education. And she has let me know it! We both want to help kids but we have different beliefs on how to get there. She has talked about her passion with curbing dating violence and sexual assault. She has talked about Erin's Law that seeks to protect children. I told her in our first meeting that that was a bill I would be honored to sponsor next year if I was in the House. That was a commitment I made to her regardless if she ran against me or not.
Today Becca called me and told me she would not be running against me. But she also assured me she would be watching my voting record and wouldn’t hesitate to point out when she believes I am wrong. I wouldn’t expect anything else from Becca Tieder. The Becca Tieder I have gotten to know and call my friend is a tough, tenacious, advocate for those causes she holds dear.
Here is Becca's response:
Becca Tieder shared a post:
This is not sexy or salacious. It is a political tale without scandal or hatred. But you know I don’t do things status quo. Y’all knew I was planning to run in
#FLHD67 against
Chris Latvala. I thought (and he knows this) that he was wrong on too many issues, an empty suit who was too far right for the good of the district. He is not all these things (a little too right and wrong on education but I am working on it). He is a kind, caring, funny-never saw that coming-person who loves his job and has a passion for service. I sought out an adversary and found an ally. Knowing this and with other political options out there for consideration I decided to work with him not against him. Below are Christopher’s words. But the major takeaway is regardless of party- get to know your leadership, you never know what you might find. It might just be a friend. It might help you advance something you believe in like
Erin's Law. Imagine what could happen if more people treated one another with respect and compromise in politics? Our best interests- not special interests might be served.