My name is Jared West and I’m running for State Representative in Florida HD-41, which is in Polk County. I’m running (as a gay progressive) in the same county that has for several years elected racist crazy sheriff Grady Judd. My opponent has even gone on the record making awful remarks, once stating “Liberals are acting like (President-elect Donald) Trump is going to kill all the gays, make slavery legal again and take away women's right. Did he become a Muslim?" in a facebook post in 2016. It wasn't easy to come to the decision to run, but we can not let him go unopposed again.
The WONDERFUL thing about this district is that we now have 6,138 more democrats than republicans, and gained 108 new registered Democrats just last month. We also lead massively in democratic vote by mail registration.
28 of my 35 precincts now have more democrats than republicans, and my ground game has started and is going strong. My opponent has yet to lift a finger to campaign, which is yet another blessing.
My opponent ran unopposed in 2018, but in 2016 he won by 2%, and this district for many years has had narrow losses for democrats.
It’s been 80 + days since he (my opponent) has mentioned coronavirus, 90+ days since he’s mentioned unemployment (our unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 19.1%, the fourth highest in Florida, and of course he voted against having a special session to fix unemployment and expand medicaid.
The only thing he does have going for him is donations. He has over $40,000 on hand, but not a single penny of it has come from people, it’s all from businesses. I on the other hand have raised about $7,500 since may and it’s all from individuals, over 100 of them.
I can not wait to get elected and make real change for the people in this district. We currently have a shortage of affordable housing, a lack of high paying jobs, and a 25% food insecurity rate. We need someone in this seat who will listen, rather than ignore and hide when the going gets tough. I’m a fighter by nature, and I’m going to ensure my district thrives.
If you’d like to contribute to my campaign and help me flip this seat, you can do so at my act blue. I’d also love to have you follow along with my campaign and visit JaredWestForFlorida.com or click the links below.