Robinson, Mele compete for Florida House District 71. They don’t have much in common
Described in their own words, candidates for the District 71 seat in the Florida House are complete opposites of one another.
While incumbent state Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, is proud of his conservative values, his Democrat challenger, Andy Mele, says those values are plaguing the state. Both candidates agree that the differences between them are stark.
“The great thing about this race is that you have two distinct people with distinct policies,” Robinson said. “Voters can decide what fits their vision best.”
District 71 includes parts of Palmetto, Bradenton, the barrier islands and Sarasota.
Mele, a veteran environmental activist, says the “apocalyptic” red tide of 2018 prompted him to join the race. After watching the Gulf Coast’s economy suffer at the hands of the algal bloom, Mele said he worked with other activists to come up with some guidelines for the Florida Legislature to regulate nutrient pollution but the result was underwhelming.
Robinson, an attorney, called Tallahassee’s effort to curtail future red tide events “the greatest environmental legislation in a generation.” His opponent disagrees.
“They’re not bad bills. They just don’t do more than 5 or 10 percent of what we needed. They avoided nutrient pollution entirely,” Mele argued. “These are soundbite bills, and the problem we have in Florida is way beyond soundbites.”
“We had the worst red tide in years and we worked together to increase penalties and get money for Mote Marine. I’m very proud of our effort,” Robinson responded.
Moving forward, Robinson said he’s hoping to continue safely reopening Florida’s economy in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown, getting residents back to work and providing more workforce development opportunities for those without a college degree.
“I think I have a record of accomplishment and I’m proud of that work, but we have work left to do,” said Robinson.
The coronavirus pandemic isn’t something Florida could have prepared for, but conservative policies over the past few decades helped lessen the impact, according to Robinson.
“In my view, the state is well-positioned to recover in the very best way because of the decisions made not just over the past two years but over the last 10 years or so,” said Robinson, who was first elected in 2018. “We will recover, and it’s because of the policies in place that have been conservative with respect to our budget. We can’t tax and spend ourselves out of a pandemic.”
But his opponent has been an outspoken critic of those same conservative policies, arguing that they’ve left Florida worse off than before.
“It’s time for a change, from the president on down. It’s time for a complete and total change. We’ve tried the conservative policy for decades,” said Mele. “What we’ve been doing for the last 20 to 25 years has not been working.
“They’ve had absolute hegemony over the state government, and if conservative ideas were so good, we’d be in utopia right now, but we’re not,” he continued.
If elected, Mele hopes to turn Florida into a climate change resiliency leader, increase taxes on corporations and protect public education funding, among other plans and ideas. He acknowledged the possibility that a Republican-led Legislature could prove difficult for many of his goals.
“I’ve been spelling it out and offering detailed policy prescriptions. I’m going to run down the list until they make it impossible, and then I’ll start again because it needs to be done,” Mele said.
Robinson contests that Mele’s legislative proposals would cost too much money and result in new taxes on Floridians.
“He wants to tax and spend, and I don’t think that’s the right approach,” Robinson said, referring to Mele’s campaign platform. “We aren’t going to tax ourselves out of a pandemic. He wants to tax hard-working Floridians in the most dire economic crisis of our time.”
New taxes don’t have to be all bad, according to Mele, who suggested raising corporate taxes andphosphate severances taxes and levying new taxes on alcohol or tobacco to help pay for solar energy adoption, healthcare and public education.
“I think we need to look for additional revenue for the state to supplant normal revenues on the COVID-19-stricken economy,” said Mele.
Mele’s campaign has raised about $13,000. To learn more about his campaign, visit www.AndyMeleForFLHouse.com. Robinson has raised over $200,000. To learn more about his campaign, visit www.RobinsonForFlorida.com.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
