The UF physician will run for state House District 21; others jump in local races

After narrowly losing to state Sen. Keith Perry in a tight 2018 race fueled by dark money and controversy, Democrat Kayser Enneking says she’s ready to hit the campaign trail again.

Enneking said Thursday in an interview with The Sun that she is running for the Florida House of Representatives in hopes of unseating incumbent Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, in November 2020.

The District 21 seat represents western Alachua County, Gilchrist and Dixie counties.

“If you asked me six weeks ago, I would’ve told you no,” she said about running.

Enneking, 60, has been a University of Florida physician since 1991. She said she is entering the race because of the Legislature’s failure to get Medicaid expansion on the 2020 ballot. She said the best way for her to tackle the issue, which was a staple during her 2018 run, is to run for office.

“I think the Democrats are going to be focused on the House this year,” she said.

During 2018, Enneking was hit with a slew of mailers funded by Republicans through dark money, both in the primary and general election. In the primary, Republicans funded the ads in support of Democrat Olysha Magruder, in an effort to pin the lesser-funded candidate against Perry, R-Gainesville.

After earning her spot on the November ballot, independent Charles Goston, a lifelong Democrat, began campaigning and receiving money from anonymous sources and Republicans, including those who were supporting Perry.

Data Targeting, a local Republican consulting group that worked on Perry’s campaign, also paid for records that Goston later used in an elections complaint filed against Enneking days before the election.

Enneking said she will be out of town during September but will file her paperwork officially on Oct. 1. She said having more Democrats in the House will help ensure that districts are redrawn fairly.

Alachua County Commissioner Ken Cornell was quick to endorse Enneking following her announcement.

“Dr. Enneking is uniquely qualified to advocate in Tallahassee for the urgent health care needs of urban and rural folks in Alachua County,” he said.

In Alachua County, about 48% of voters are Democrats, but Democrats dominate within Gainesville city limits, which District 21 splits. Dixie County has about 9,800 registered voters. At least 4,200 of those are Republicans, while 3,900 are Democrats. Of the 12,000 Gilchrist voters, almost 6,800 are Republicans, while almost 3,200 are Democrats.

Clemons filed for re-election in December 2018 after earning his second term in office. He said he intends to campaign for District 21 and not seek another position.

Thursday brought news of other local leaders seeking office on the ballot still more than a year out.

Mary Alford, a Gainesville Utility Advisory Board member, filed paperwork to run for office Thursday. Alford looks to unseat County Commissioner Mike Byerly for the District 1 seat.

Alford, 58, is a principal engineer for the Sustainable Design Group, an architecture and engineering design and consulting firm. She has spent the last 10 years serving on various advisory boards. She said she is concerned with development and the environment.

“I would like to see our county take care of roads and buildings it already has before building new ones,” she said.

Anna Prizzia, 42, also announced she is running for County Commission District 3 Thursday. The seat is currently held by Robert Hutchinson, who has not filed for re-election. Democrat Trisha Roy has also filed for the seat.

Prizzia is a UF/IFAS program director for the Field and Fork Program and is a community food systems coordinator. She said her experience of bringing people together for a common goal makes her a worthy candidate for the county commission.

“I think I’m good at making a change in bureaucracy,” she said.