He managed the Democrat's Florida Legislature upset special election victory last year

As she looks to make the jump to Congress, Sarasota Democratic state Rep. Margaret Good is sticking with the campaign operative who managed her high-profile special election win last year.

Good announced Tuesday that Kevin Lata will manage her bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key.

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Lata helped Good score a big upset in the state House District 72 special election contest. She defeated Republican James Buchanan by 7.4 percentage points in a district that President Donald Trump carried by more than four points.

Lata, 28, is a Virginia native who studied political science at Virginia Commonwealth University. He worked on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in 2016 and recently had been working on the Sanders campaign in Iowa. He also served as the field director for state House Democrats in Iowa.

Much of Lata's background is in field work — organizing volunteers to knock on doors to persuade voters and get them out to the polls. A hallmark of Good's special election win was her strong field campaign, and a similar effort will be critical if she expects to be competitive in the congressional race.

But scaling up field activities from a campaign that covers Good's state House district in northern Sarasota County to a congressional district that includes northern Sarasota County, Manatee County a portion of Hillsborough County will be challenging. Lata said he's up for the challenge.

“We’re going to have a sprawling presence in Sarasota and Manatee and Hillsbrough, every single corner of the district," Lata said. "That’s what it takes to be successful and that’s what we’re going to do.”