Winter Haven chiropractic running for state representative

Gary Newberry describes himself as fiscal conservative and a Reagan conservative. He's siding with Marco Rubio in the U.S. senate race.

Like the senior President Bush, Newberry, 59, is also willing take the "no new taxes" pledge.

Newberry is a chiropractic with a 32-year-old practice in Winter Haven. He was born in Opa-locka, but moved with his parents to Rock Island, Ill. He graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, and immediate moved back to Florida.

He and his wife, Stacy, have three children and four grandchildren. He is a past board member of Christian Family Youth Services, the Lions Club, and Doctors with a Heart Foundation.

In college, Newberry was a Democrat. "But I was always voting for conservative candidates." He converted in the realigning Reagan election.

Now he's torn again, but he's leaning toward Rubio: "Crist, in my opinion, didn't represent true conservative values. He endorsed Obama. By the same token, he was good to our health care profession."

The three biggest issues Florida faces today are health care, illegal alien immigration and education, which he calls the 800-pound gorilla in the room.

One of his daughters is a college professor in Lakeland, the other is a Spring Hill principal. The state, Newberry said, must promote and reward good teachers, and cull out bad ones.

Teachers have fought against just ideas, the most recent being the STAR program. In 2007, after just a year, the Florida Senate scrapped STAR and replaced it with the Merit Award Program. The key, Newberry suggested, is not to ram through such a program. It's to first meet with superintendents, principals and teachers.

The classroom size rule is wrong, he said. An extra one, two or three students should be allowed to help schools save money.

Florida probably should opt out of the proposed federal health care program, Newberry said. "I don't think we want to participate as a state. It's a 10th Amendment issue." (The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.)

If elected, he'll ask the House speaker to appoint him to a health care committee, where he can lead a charge against health care fraud, like clinics which open, buy Social Security numbers, order supplies and then bill Medicare and Medicaid.

"And they're getting paid for it," Newberry said. He would also make health care policies portable, and allow for the sale of health insurance across state lines. Free trade, he thinks, may drive down prices.

Illegals, promoted by businesses, are here to live the American dream, the candidate said. "But they're clogging our health care system, and they're clogging our schools."

He would use E-Verify, an Internet-based system that allows an employer to determine the eligibility of a prospective employee, in schools and hospitals.

District 66 is currently represented by Baxter Troutman, also of Winter Haven. A second Winter Haven man, Leviticus Reed, is also running.

Although Newberry lags behind in fundraising - $167,000 has been reported by his opponent, Ben Albritton of Wauchula, while Newberry reported $15,000 - Newberry said he'll campaign door to door.

"I've very confident about that," he said.

The bottom line question for any candidate is why they're running.

Newberry wants to assure that his children and grandchildren "have a nice, safe, beautiful, prosperous place to live. And I'd like to be a voice for the people. As corny as that sounds, I'm interested in what the people have got to say."

More info: www.garynewberry.com