TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – State Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, announced late Thursday that he will run for Congress. The four-term lawmaker said he will run in the 6th Congressional District currently represented by Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis, who's seeking the GOP nomination for Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat.
"Being a public servant is a calling for me, a calling which I have consistently answered without hesitation, with the goal of offering a fresh perspective and solutions oriented leadership," Taylor said in a statement issued by his office.
Recommended Videos
The district that includes St. Johns, Flager and Volusia counties would likely favor Republicans by a smaller margin next year if a new congressional map recommended by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis is adopted by the Florida Supreme Court.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney carried the existing district with almost 57.6 percent of the vote in 2012, compared with almost 52.9 percent of the vote in the proposed district.
That isn't stopping U.S. Rep. John Mica, a Republican current representing the 7th Congressional District in north central Florida, from considering shifting run for the DeSantis coastal seat. That would allow Rep. Dan Webster, currently in the 10th Congressional District and a candidate for speaker of the House, to run in a neighboring safe GOP seat instead of a newly redrawn seat that favors Democrats.
DeSantis thinks the switch is a bad idea because it doesn't build party.
"I don't know exactly how the lines are going to go, but I think if it forces some Republican candidates to get out into some different constituencies, it might make some of the immediate elections a little more difficult, but I think over the long term, you start developing a conversation and start articulating your principles and how, in my case, how limited government principles can make a positive difference in people's lives. I think that's probably a really good thing over the long term," DeSantis said.
In addition to the discussions of incumbent congressional Republicans switching districts, two Volusia County residents have notified the State Elections Office they intend to run in District 6: Democrat Richard Dembinsky, of Port Orange, and Republican G.G. Galloway, of Ormond Beach.