Two more Polk residents join Republican field to succeed Sam Killebrew in Florida House

With the primary election still 15 months away, the race to succeed Rep. Sam Killebrew in the Florida House of Representatives has already drawn a crowded field.

Two more candidates have filed to run for House District 48, creating a race of five Republicans with no Democrats yet in the race.

Killebrew, a Republican from Winter Haven, faces term limits next year. District 48 contains eastern Polk County south of Haines City.

Jerry Carter of Winter Haven and Amilee Stuckey of Lake Wales both filed to run on Monday.

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Carter, 64, is a former Polk County commissioner and served as chairman of the Polk County Republican Executive Committee from 1998 to 2002. He ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House in 2002.

Carter is an executive in his family's furniture business and is a licensed real estate broker, he said in a news release.

“I grew up in Winter Haven, built my business here, and raised my family in East Polk County,” Carter said in the release. “There’s a lot that’s going right in the Sunshine State, and I’m running to build on that conservative legacy. Voters can count on me to support law enforcement, protect parental rights, expand freedom, defend our constitutional rights and cut wasteful spending to lower taxes.”

Stuckey, 58, operates a law firm in Lake Wales and has served as Republican state committeewoman for Polk County since 2019. She said that she doesn’t need to resign that position to run for the Legislature.

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A Marine Corps veteran, Stuckey was raised in Orange County and has lived in Polk County for more than a decade. She was previously second vice chair of the Republican Party of Polk County.

Stuckey said she had been involved in politics and campaigns while living in other states before returning to Florida in 2009. She received The Florida Bar’s Pro Bono Service Award this year.

“So I've always given back, and this is just a goal that I had, where I feel like I could do really a lot of good,” Stuckey said. “As an attorney, I've noticed some things and I've learned a lot of things. I've come in contact with a lot of people, and there is room for improvement in some of our laws. And so that's a goal, to work on some of those things.”

Carter and Stuckey join fellow Republicans Chad Davis, Kenny Hartpence and Lynn Wilson in the race.

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Jerry Carter, Amilee Stuckey join race for Florida House District 48