Meet the four Republican candidates for the open Florida House District 49 seat in Polk
There's a four-way race among Republicans for the open Florida House seat in District 49 vacated by three-term Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade.
Republican voters in District 49 will choose between Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, Heather McArthur, Shawn McDonough and Randy Wilkinson in the Aug. 20 primary.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Ashley Herrmann in the Nov. 5 general election to represent District 49. The district covers much of Polk County west of U.S. 27, extending north to the Combee Settlement area east of Lake Parker.
Mail-in ballots have already been sent to voters and may be requested through Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office through Aug. 8. Early, in-person voting will run Aug. 10-17, with the traditional precinct voting on Aug. 20. Only registered Republicans may cast a ballot in the state House District 49 primary.
Here is an overview of the candidates:
Jennifer Kincart Jonsson
Kincart Jonsson, 46, of Lakeland is the vice president of A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure Inc., a Bartow business her family has owned and operated since 1987. The company provides services including waste management, remediation of contaminated areas and environmental compliance.
"I never expected to run for public office, it was not on my bucket list of things to do," she said. "I'm the best person to represent the community for conservative values."
As a lifelong Polk resident, Jonsson graduated from Lakeland High School before earning a bachelor's degree in health science and a master's in public health from University of Florida. She's married to her husband, Eric, and has three children ages 18,16, and 14.
Kincart Jonsson said working her way up through the family business has given her a wealth of experience to best serve District 49 residents. As a Christian constitutional conservative, she said she is pro-life, staunchly supports the 2nd Amendment and pro-law enforcement and first responders.
"I want to be a champion for Polk County," she said. "Affordability, public safety and education, particularly workforce education, are the huge things we need to work on."
The affordability of housing amid rapid increases in home and flood insurance is a key issue, Kincart Jonsson said. She wants to ensure the legislature continues work to limit frivolous lawsuits while bringing new companies and competition into the state to lower rates.
Kincart Jonsson said she did not have a specific legislative proposal as she wants to further learn the history of how Florida homeowners wound up in this situation, what has been tried and what's already failed.
If elected, Kincart Jonsson said she plans to be a strong advocate for workforce education, encouraging the idea that there are two paths to success, both college and workforce readiness. Her own family has experienced finding skilled workers in several trades, such as welders and truck drivers.
Teens and young adults need to know there are viable, high-paying career options in the trades, Kincart Jonsson said. If elected, she hopes to increase awareness of the state's Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which offers a variety of scholarship programs to students who meet the minimum standards in grades, coursework and volunteer hours, and lower some of the barriers to participating in the program.
"As a lifelong Polk County resident, I grew up with orange trees in my backyard," she said. "I want to protect Polk's charm and history."
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Her endorsements include Lakeland Professional Firefighters, West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association, State of Florida FOP and District 3, Florida Family Action, Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Professional Firefighters, Americans for Prosperity, Florida Realtors PAC, Associated Builders and Contractors, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Business Voice and Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City.
To date, Kincart Jonsson has raised more than $255,000 from more than 400 donors, according to filings with Florida's Division of Elections. Noteworthy individual donors include Stephen Baylis; Publix's Vice Chair Hoyt Barnett, Nicholas and Ashley Gibson Barnett, the daughter of the district's current representative; developer Wesley Beck of Aspyre Properties of Florida; Albert Cassidy of Cassidy Corp.; Harrell's LLC and several Harrell family members; and Thomas Oakley, vice president of Oakley Transport.
Heather McArthur
McArthur, 46, of Lakeland, has worked as a professional mediator in Florida since 2012 and owns her own mediation services business. She is certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a mediator in family law, dependency and county and circuit civil court. Mediators are hired to help two or more parties resolve legal disputes after reaching an impasse.
McArthur is the co-founder and president of Collaborative Professionals of Central Florida. She is involved in her local Rotary club, volunteers with KidsPack, Helping Hands and Crisis Cleanup to help in post-hurricane disasters, according to her campaign site.
This is McArthur's first campaign for political office. She said she personally spoke with Bell about the possibility of running for District 49 and decided to move forward with a campaign after much prayer.
Some of the key issues highlighted by McArthur in a previous Ledger interview were homeowner insurance costs, the preservation of civil liberties, public education and the citrus industry. She is a married mother of five children, all of whom attend or have graduated from public schools.
"I want us to protect our children from indoctrination,” she previously told The Ledger. “I really want us to focus on the quality of education, the things that will help them prepare for their next phase in life. That's my big concern.”
The Ledger was unable to schedule an interview with McArthur ahead of the primary despite multiple attempts. She did not respond to a candidate questionnaire sent to all candidates in the race.
On her campaign's Facebook page, McArthur posted on July 22 that, "One of the key pillars of my campaign, and will be a top priority as a representative, is to ensure that the future of Florida’s water is safe to use and that we find better ways to conserve our water and land." On her campaign website, McArthur puts an emphasis on issues including protecting the country's southern border and preserving Florida's Heartland.
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Her endorsements include the PBCA PAC, West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association and Earn the Vote Action, according to her campaign's Facebook page.
To date, McArthur has raised more than $79,000 from 221 contributors, according to documents filed with Florida's Division of Elections. Noteworthy individual donors include Publix's Vice Chair Hoyt Barnett, Wesley and Ashley Bell Barnett, daughter of the district's current representative; developer Wesley Beck of Aspyre Properties of Florida; Pamela Mutz, Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz's wife; Polk County School Board member Rick Nolte; and Vic Story Jr., president and board chair of The Story Companies in Lake Wales.
Shawn McDonough
McDonough, 47, of Mulberry, is a co-owner of the real estate company S&D Real Estate with his wife, Dee Chandler-McDonough. He has described it as one of the largest non-franchise real estate agencies in Polk with more than 90 agents. He also owns McDonough Construction.
In the community, McDonough is a former youth pastor who has served as chairman of Heartland For Children; a board member for ROAR Florida (previously Noah's Ark), a Lakeland nonprofit; and volunteered with Boy Scouts of America troops. He's also worked extensively for the Lakeland Association of Realtors.
This is McDonough's second attempt at running for political office, having previously launched a six-week campaign in 2002 challenging Randy Wilkinson for his seat on the Polk County Commission.
"I'm focused on bringing back strong representation to this District 49 seat," he said. "I am a regular guy who is fed up with the high cost of insurance: home insurance and car insurance, too."
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McDonough said he's spent most of the past nine months on the campaign trail knocking on doors across the district. Based on his conversations, his three main issues are stopping inflation, illegal immigration and addressing the state's insurance crisis.
"I've applied for a job of representing about 184,000 people in our district," the candidate said. "I'm a vehicle. This is the people's opportunity to have their voice be heard."
McDonough said in the controversial debate about banning books in Florida's schools, he has one unanswered question: Can a student check out the Bible? It's a question that represents his viewpoint on schools and religious believes.
"It's simple. I would like to make sure the Bible is available in the media center and teachers are aware it's available," he said.
In education, McDonough said he also wants to raise awareness and "make it honorable" for children who pursue training in the trades as opposed to going to college. The candidate said he wants to see classes focusing on basic skills, like wood shop, and financial planning courses more available in high schools.
"The difference is I’m the true outsider that’s committed to win and stopping our seat from being stolen by Tallahassee’s special interests," he said. "That is right what is happening before voters' eyes."
His endorsements include Bikers for Trump, Conservative Watch USA, Bikers for 45, and the National Rifle Association, according to his campaign's Facebook page.
To date, McDonough has raised more than $189,000, according to documents filed with Florida's Division of Elections. Noteworthy individual donors to his campaign include Ron Clark, founding partner of Clark, Campbell, Lancaster, Workman & Airth, P.A.; Lakeland developer Gregory Fancelli; Bradley Lunz of The Lunz Group in Lakeland; Joe Ruthven; and Linda Wiggs, wife of Lakeland's former mayor Howard Wiggs.
Randy Wilkinson
Wilkinson, 71, of Highalnds City, is no newcomer to the political arena. He was a former Polk County School Board member from 1994 to 1998 before serving as a Polk County commission from 1998 to 2010.
"I’m the candidate with experience in elective office and is versed in a range of relevant fields," he told The Ledger.
Wilkinson originally filed to run as the eighth candidate in District 48, but switched his candidacy to District 49. He said the decision was made for a multitude of reasons based on his experience in Polk County, where his family lives, and who else was campaigning.
Key issues Wilkinson said he would focus on if elected include the high cost of property and auto insurance in Florida, taxes and curbing runaway development. When it comes to development regulations, Wilkinson is in favor of home rule to grant municipalities more control.
"We need to reverse what the governor and legislature did. They put many strictures on counties making their own regulations," he said. "For example, if they want to raise impact fees 25% they can do it, but it had to be over four years."
While serving on the County Commission, Wilkinson said he voted in favor of one of the highest proposed raises to impact fees — and said he voted to keep the higher fees, even when it was repealed.
"It didn't really impact people buying homes, prices are already going up so steep," he said. "We have people moving in every day from New York. Let them pay for this infrastructure they'll need."
Wilkinson said he thinks local municipalities have to be empowered to say no to developers when necessary. While he's not against new construction, he feels local municipalities should be allowed to charge the impact fees they deem necessary and uphold plans for future growth management.
Florida's justice system is ripe for reform, according to Wilkinson, who said the case of convicted murderer Leo Schofield Jr. has proved that. The candidate said Polk County has the habit of hitting individuals with more charges per arrest than other counties, loading up the charges.
"We are arresting too many people in Polk County," he said.
To date, Wilkinson has raised around $35,7000, according to filings with Florida's Division of Elections. Individual donors include Tom Mims and Charles and Vicki Cook of Frostproof.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7545.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Meet the 4 Republican candidates for Florida House District 49 in Polk
