JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Senate District 7 race has become a bitter battle between Tom Leek and David Shoar. It started well before Shoar joined the race with attack ads against Leek paid for by political committee, The Truth Matters.
The Truth Matters has thrown its support behind David Shoar; however, there is a third candidate seeking the Republican nomination in this race.
Gerry James is a husband, father, world champion in the golf long drive and financial adviser.
James says he is running to stop the overdevelopment of St. Johns and Flagler counties, and fix the property insurance crisis in the state. He also wants to repeal red flag laws and curb state spending.
"I'm telling you a big government is always a corrupt government and we got to put a stop to it," Jerry said.
The race has become one of the most expensive in Florida's history with ads being made for and against Shoar and Leek. James wants to set himself apart from the other two candidates by not taking money from any big groups or corporations.
"The one thing that nobody will ever accuse me of is not working. I have worked harder. I've worked probably 20 times harder, maybe 100 times harder than both of these guys put together. Neither of them have used their own money to campaign with, it's all insurance money. It's all development money. It's all trial lawyer money," James said.
While James does not have a large ad campaign like his opponents, he was endorsed by the St. Johns County GOP. He will be spending the next week before the election knocking on doors and meeting with voters to spread his message.
"If they want a constitutional conservative, a real conservative, one that is not for sale in office, they need to take a hard look at me," James said.
First Coast News also spoke with the other two opponents in this race, David Shoar and Tom Leek.
