Herald recommends: Wengay Newton for House District 70, Democratic primary
Born and raised in St. Petersburg with extensive knowledge of the poor neighborhoods in the southern part of the city, Wengay “Newt” Newton holds a significant advantage over his two Democratic opponents in this primary contest for Florida House District 70. Plus, with eight years of service on the St. Petersburg City Council, Newton is the only candidate with elected political experience.
Newton gained valuable knowledge of budgets and economic development as well as education and transportation issues while on the council. He termed out this past January.
He spent 18 years at Xerox Corp. as a senior printing system engineer. Today, he’s a professional photographer who operates his own business.
The other two candidates — Christopher John “CJ” Czaia, a lawyer who once led the Manatee County Democratic Party, and Dan Fiorini, who owns a custom frame business — lack the inside government experience and the name recognition that Newton has established.
The sprawling district covers portions of four counties — Manatee, Sarasota, Pinellas and Hillsborough — with the bulk of the voters residing in St. Petersburg’s southern neighborhoods. The Democratic primary winner will face Republican Cori Fournier in the November general election.
Newton rightfully touts his lengthy list of endorsements, in part because of his early entry into the contest — in January 2015 — but also a result of his hard work and community respect. Those include a firefighters and paramedics organization and other labor unions, law enforcement, physicians and the Florida Medical Association, real estate agents and current and former St. Petersburg council members. Sarasota Mayor Willie Charles Shaw and Vice Mayor Shelli Freeland Eddie also endorse Newton.
One of Newton’s priorities will be daunting, to say the least. He aims to push for Medicaid expansion in Florida, which would provide health care coverage for more than 800,000 working poor Floridians. The state House has rejected billions in federal aid for this expansion. As a member of that chamber, Newton would have an opportunity to argue this humanitarian and just cause.
He also pledges to focus on two other issues that are high on Manatee County’s priority list: education funding and affordable housing.
On education and the creation of economic opportunity, he vows to support or sponsor legislation to fully fund the Bright Futures scholarship program, which at one time paid the entire cost of tuition for academic scholars. Newton also wants to focus funding on early education since birth to age 5 are key development years for a child’s brain, he says. This matches the vaunted mission of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a communitywide effort in Manatee and Sarasota counties, one we support wholeheartedly.
On safe, clean and affordable housing, Newton wants the Legislature and governor to quit raiding the Sadowski Trust Fund, established in 1992 with the objective of creating affordable housing, especially in low-income neighborhoods. We have railed against these unjust raids for years, and Newton is on target with this goal.
On the environment, he states that Amendment 1 money should be spent as voters intended — on environmental projects, not government expenses, as the Legislature diverts funds into their own priorities. We fully support this position, too.
His government experience includes memberships on numerous committees and organizations, including budget, finance and taxation; housing services; youth services and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, just to cite a few. His community connections run deep, too, with service on dozens of organizations.
Newton pledges to serve the entire district, from Newtown in Sarasota to Round Lake, a must since the district is but a sliver here and can be easily overlooked.
With his political experience, community service and grasp of the issues, Newton is the best candidate in this Democratic primary. For Florida House District 70, the Bradenton Herald Editorial Board recommends Wengay “Newt” Newton.
Candidate replies
Candidates who do not receive the Herald Editorial Board’s endorsement are invited to submit a response of up to 300 words by 5 p.m. the day after the endorsement appears in print. Those can be sent to letters@bradenton.com or faxed to 745-7097.
View candidate forums
The Herald, in partnership with Manatee Educational Television, has videotaped candidate forums in these contested races. These forums can be viewed on www.youtube.com/manateeeducationaltv (click on Videos). METV is also regularly airing all the forums, and the station can be viewed on Brighthouse channel 614, Verizon FIOS 31 and Comcast 19. For METV air times, visit www.metvweb.com.
This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Herald recommends: Wengay Newton for House District 70, Democratic primary."