Democrat Gary Siplin is on the way back. The former member of the Florida House and Senate is supposedly set to run for Congress in an ever growing field of candidates in District 10.
According to multiple sources, who all asked to remain anonymous because Siplin hasn’t announced, confirmed that Siplin will indeed vie for the newly drawn Congressional seat.
Former Florida state Senator Gary Siplin with his wife, current Orange Count Commissioner Victoria Siplin/Photo courtesy of Gary Siplin’s Facebook page
Speaking of the district and it’s representative, it still has one. Congressman Daniel Webster has not stepped down nor does he plan to. But due to a lawsuit and a court order, the Florida Legislature was forced to gather its things and return for a special session to redraw the lines.
Because of that, District 10 is being redrawn and will likely lean Democrat. And now it seems that a flood of candidates from the left view Webster as beatable, so they’re loading their luggage in hopes of going to D.C.
So far there are four potential candidates running, including Webster and Siplin, for one seat. Val Demings, Geraldine Thompson, and Gary Siplin will all battle for the right to face Webster in the general.
But going back to the star of the article, Gary Siplin, he seems to have an omnipresent political career.
Serving as an elected official since 2000 until term limits forced him out of office in 2011, Siplin’s presence is always…around.
He attempted a short comeback in 2014 by challenging Thompson for Florida Senate District 12 but was quickly disposed. When he announced his intentions to run for the Senate seat, Siplin said that the community asked him to do it.
Conventional thinking was that Siplin would try for District 12 again now that Thompson would make the leap for Congress but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Rumors have floated for years that Siplin had eyes fixed for a Congressional run. But after his term ran out in 2011, he didn’t have many options for a Congressional run as there were no open seats and the districts didn’t necessarily favor a win for him.
But now things are different.
There is an open seat with district lines that favor a win by a Democrat. While the seat seems crowded, Siplin has a knack for political flair. He receives criticism and flack for hanging on the fringes when it comes to his ways of campaigning, but many on the westside of Orlando adore him.
From backpack giveaways to free turkeys, Siplin has carved a political niche for himself with certain parts of the community.
Thing is, that may have been enough to win a state House or Senate seat, but it will be interesting to see how well that translates to his campaign for Congress.
At time of publish, Siplin had yet to respond my inquiries.
-JH
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