It's time to chart a new path forward for Florida

I was born in Jacksonville while my father was in the Navy. I was raised in Central Florida. Today, I'm a resident of Williston and the Democratic nominee for Florida House District 22. As a husband, father and neighbor, I've got deep roots here.

I received my undergraduate degree from Princeton University and my law degree from the University of Virginia. I've practiced law for 30 years and taught law students at Florida A&M University. In addition, I'm a professional mediator and voting rights activist.

I was inspired to run for office by my mother's public service as a city commissioner. As a candidate, I am determined to protect local government authority. I have always thought that the best government is the government nearest to the people — local government.

That seems like a reasonable, hometown value with which everyone could agree. But my opponent finds that notion offensive. He sponsored legislation that places the Alachua County Charter on the ballot in November. As House Majority Whip, he convinced members of the Florida Legislature from Key West to Pensacola that they should overturn Alachua County's Charter and destroy countywide commission elections.

That's undemocratic because it's not what the people of Alachua County want. Tallahassee lawmakers shouldn't meddle in our local government.

We live in difficult times. Residents across this district are struggling to keep roofs over their heads and pay for basic necessities thanks to 20-plus years of irresponsible decisions by politicians like my opponent. Meanwhile, our state government sits on tens of billions of dollars in reserves with tens of billions more projected over the next four years.

Homeowners' property insurance premiums have nearly tripled since my opponent took office. His $2 billion giveaway to Florida's property insurance companies failed to solve the homeowners insurance crisis, and insurers continue to go bankrupt and flee the state every week.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation — Florida's "insurer of last resort" — is projected to cover over a million residential properties by the end of the year. That threatens the financial stability of nearly every Floridian because state law says automobile insurance policyholders ultimately have to pay a policy surcharge to cover Citizens claims in the event of a major hurricane.

Instead of finding real solutions to the property insurance crisis, my opponent blames his own constituents. He claims that our friends and neighbors are litigious fraudsters. At the request of their corporate campaign donors, he and his allies passed laws to make it harder to sue big insurance companies when they refuse to pay valid claims.

If 30 years as an attorney has taught me anything, it's that insurance companies, more often than not, are the real bad actors. Reasonable people agree: Homeowners are well within their rights to sue insurers that wrongfully refuse to pay legitimate claims.

From the property insurance crisis to voting, fraud seems to be the battle cry of my opponent and his friends when every reasonable argument for their position has fallen apart. Yet, we've seen time and again that the very people screaming about fraud are the actual fraudsters. When someone shows you who they are, you'd better believe them.

It's time to chart a new path forward for our state — one that ends decades of single-party rule and restores Florida as a beacon of prosperity and true freedom for all of our citizens. That requires sending a representative to Tallahassee who isn't so distracted by national politics that he ignores his own constituents. It requires someone who advocates for the interests of people who actually live in our district.

Vote for Brandon Peters on Nov. 8!

Brandon Peters is running for the Florida House of Representatives, District 22.

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