Baccus announces run for Florida House

A friend told Chevon Baccus it would be impossible to gather 1,000 small donations, which she thinks she'll need for a successful run at the District 66 House of Representative seat.

"Just watch me," was her reply.

Now it's time to put up. Baccus, a former bank vice president, Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce president and Rotary Club president, announced her candidacy Tuesday. She is the fourth Republican trying for the open seat now held by Rep. Baxter Troutman, who is term limited.

If only Republicans file, state election law permits all voters to cast ballots in the Republican primary.

Baccus is a conservative who describes her politics as between the moderate Gov. Crist and the farther-to-the-right Marco Rubio. A political strategist who helped in other campaigns around the state, Baccus said the idea of being a politician first crossed her mind 20 years ago.

"I prefer being the strategic analyst behind the scene," Baccus said. However, she said, good people have been "scared out of the race."

The other candidates are citrus grower Ben Albritton of Wauchula, chiropractor Gary Newberry and planner Leviticus Reed, both of Winter Haven. Albritton has raised $167,000, Newberry $15,000, and Reed has no money, according to their reports to the Florida Division of Elections.

Albritton, Baccus said, "is a candidate for business as usual. If they want a choice, I'm there."

Baccus is counting on 75 grassroots volunteers, small donors and the free networking opportunities offered by the World Wide Web to help her raise $75,000.

"I don't need to raise as much money as he does to get the message out," Baccus said. "I'm not a big advocate of $10,000 mailers anyway."

Background

Baccus is a former Lakeland Ledger reporter and education beat reporter and editor for Florida Today. She worked three years as the vice president of Citizens Bank & Trust, ending in December. She spent 14 years as a public education administrator and nonprofit agency executive director. Currently, she has a one-woman business development consulting business, Star Team Network.

She was the campaign manager in 1990 for a candidate who got cancer and could not continue. Shortly before the election, she stepped into the Brevard County School Board and lost the vote by .75 percent, Baccus said.

Her husband, Mike, is an exceptional student education teacher in Frostproof. Their daughter, Lisa, is a registered nurse in Daytona Beach.

Baccus earned a bachelor's degree in human resources management from Barry University in Miami Shores and a master's in human resources development from Webster University in St. Louis. She was elected president of both her state and national professional associations.

She has been an adviser to the Circle of Friends ministry and a board member for the Central Florida Development Council, the Polk State College Alumni Association, the Lake Wales Arts Council and Lake Wales Little Theatre.

"My straight talk might ruffle a few feathers, but I do get results by working hard, building strong relationships and doing my homework. I just can't imagine voting on legislation I've never read," she said.

District 66 includes most of Polk County, all of Hardee County, much of Avon Park and northwest Sebring.