GOP Candidates Look For Edge In Conservative Stronghold

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WAUSAU (CBSMiami/NSF) – On a hot early August day, the three Republican candidates in Florida's Congressional District 2 took turns mounting the stage at the large, metal-roofed "Possum Palace," holding an opossum by the tail to the delight of the crowd.

The annual Wausau Possum Festival is a political rite of passage in Washington County and emblematic of the rural, conservative nature of Florida's largest congressional district, which covers nearly 13,000 square miles and all or parts of 19 counties running from the Alabama-Florida border south to Marion County. It includes Panama City and a portion of Tallahassee.

Neal Dunn, a Panama City surgeon, Ken Sukhia, a former U.S. attorney from Tallahassee, and Mary Thomas, a Tallahassee lawyer who worked for Gov. Rick Scott, all passed the possum test. But they face a greater challenge in the Aug. 30 primary where they must rise above a field that uniformly opposes Obamacare, supports gun rights, opposes abortion, vows to fight terrorism and illegal immigration and supports Donald Trump.

The newly redrawn district is tilted far enough to the conservative side that U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, a first-term Democrat from Tallahassee, decided not to seek re-election and is now focusing on a 2018 bid for governor.

Thomas and Dunn have been the most-visible candidates in the race, each raising enough money to launch television advertising campaigns across the sprawling district. Through June 30, Dunn had raised $1.15 million, including $215,000 in loans, according to the Federal Election Commission. Thomas had raised $786,000 including $45,000 in loans.

While they have used their ad campaigns to tout their conservative credentials, Thomas and Dunn have also taken shots at each other.

Thomas has called Dunn a "liberal lobbyist," since he was once registered as a lobbyist for the Florida Medical Association and gave campaign contributions to Democrats, such as U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who later jumped to the Democratic Party.

Dunn said he was never a "professional" lobbyist and registered as a precaution since as a member of the Florida Medical Association board, he periodically testified before the Legislature. He said his few contributions to Democrats are far outnumbered by the more than $58,000 he has given to GOP candidates and causes over the years.

Dunn has attacked Thomas, a former lawyer at the old state Department of Community Affairs, as a "liberal bureaucrat" who worked for Crist.

Thomas said she has never met Crist and said Dunn's attempt to label all state workers as liberal bureaucrats "is an insult to every state employee including me."

Sukhia, who has raised $179,000, including $116,000 in loans, said he has no plans to "speak ill" of his opponents and is presenting himself as an "alternative" candidate.

"Talk is cheap," Sukhia said about the candidates each taking similar positions. "I'm the only candidate with a proven lifetime record of fighting for conservative causes."

A former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, Sukhia, 63, can recite a long line of litigation where he was personally involved, including cases involving military ballots in the 2000 presidential recount in Florida, defending the state's parental-notification law in abortion cases and advising Attorney General Pam Bondi in a challenge to the federal Affordable Care Act.

"I'm the only candidate who has actually fought for any of the causes we hold dear," Sukhia said.

Dunn is emphasizing his experience as a businessman, running a surgical practice in Panama City for the last 25 years, and as a military veteran, a point he emphasized in Wausau by sitting in a jeep near the Possum Palace.

Dunn, 63, also said his background as a urologist gives him an edge on his opponents, as he predicts the next Congress will repeal Obamacare.

"Health care is going to be rewritten next year no matter who gets in the White House," he said.

But Obamacare has been another point of contention, with Thomas accusing Dunn of having supported the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. Dunn said his position has been "mischaracterized" and he has consistently opposed it.

Thomas, 38, is emphasizing her position as a "constitutional conservative and Christian," noting she is the youngest candidate, the only mother in the race and the daughter of immigrants who would be the first Indian-American woman in Congress if she is elected.

Thomas said she has traveled some 2,000 miles a week trying to talk to voters in the district. Thomas has also announced, if elected, she would self-impose a six-year term limit.

Thomas has drawn the support of a number national conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, the Susan B. Anthony List and the House Freedom Caucus, which includes 39 of the most conservative members of the U.S. House.

Dunn has the support of a number of prominent Florida Republicans, including former House Speaker Allan Bense, former Senate President Don Gaetz and former U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland.

Sukhia has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., which Sukhia said underlines his record of prosecuting illegal immigration cases when he was a federal prosecutor.

Facing longer odds in the congressional race, Walter Dartland, a former assistant attorney general from Tallahassee, and Steve Crapps, a retired state worker and Suwannee County tree farmer, are vying for the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 30 primary.

As a sign of the conservatism of the district, President Barack Obama carried only 34.5 percent of the district's vote in the 2012 election.

The News Service of Florida's Lloyd Dunkelberger contributed to this report.