Second Palm Bay Republican enters race for Florida House District 33 seat
A second Republican this week filed to succeed Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) in the Florida House of Representatives, setting the seat up for a contested primary before next year's general election. Logan Luse of Palm Bay joins Chandler Langevin, also of Palm Bay, in the competition for the District 33 seat, which will open up next fall due to term limits and as Fine moves on to seek a seat in the State Senate.
"I am extremely humbled and excited to officially announce my candidacy to represent South Brevard County in Tallahassee as your Florida State Representative. I can't wait to see you on the campaign trail!" Luse wrote in a post on Twitter this week announcing his candidacy.
Although the 28-year-old Luse has not held office before, this is not his first foray into Brevard County politics.
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In November 2020, Luse ran unsuccessfully for the Melbourne City Council District 5 seat, finishing in fourth place in a four-way race. Mimi Hanley won with 30.7% of the vote, defeating Samantha Nazario (25.2%), Martin Lamb (24.9%) and Luse (19.2%).
During that Melbourne City Council race, he reported $3,283 in campaign contributions. Those included a $1,000 donation from Conservatives for Good Government, a Tallahassee political action committee chaired by State Sen. Debbie Mayfield, and an $819 in-kind donation for print materials from Josiah Gattle, president of the Space Coast Young Republicans.
Luse is also the the chair of the American Conservation Coalition in Florida, a conservative environmentalist group known for championing nuclear energy and de-regulation as approaches to tackling climate and energy issues.
“I know first-hand that freedom and opportunity create far better outcomes than mandates and government handouts. Conservative values, faith, self-reliance, and hard work helped me overcome the circumstances of my childhood and are the values we need to focus on in Tallahassee,” Luse said in a statement. The statement did not describe the challenges he referred to.
“I’ll work with Governor DeSantis to expand personal freedom, defend our constitutional rights, cut taxes, support our law enforcement officers, and eliminate indoctrination from Florida schools.”
House District 33 includes much of South Brevard including parts of West Melbourne, Palm Bay and Malabar. Members of the Florida House receive a $29,697 annual salary and serve for two-year terms with a limit of four terms.
Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County and North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or [email protected]. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Second Palm Bay Republican enters race for Florida House District 33 seat
