Chip LaMarca tosses hat in ring for Florida House
Chip LaMarca, the lone Republican on the Broward County Commission, is hoping to land a new role as the county’s lone Republican in the Florida Legislature.
LaMarca filed paperwork Tuesday signaling his run for state representative. He hopes to succeed state Rep. George Moraitis, RFort Lauderdale, who can’t run for re-election next year because of term limits.
The 93rd State House district, in northeast Broward along the coast, is the one area of the county in which Republicans have been able to continue winning elections even as the county as a whole trends more Democratic.
The district’s registered voters are 34.8 percent Democrats, 36.2 percent Republicans and 29 percent independent/no party affiliation.
LaMarca is a former Lighthouse Point commissioner and former chairman of the Broward Republican Party. He’s in his second term on the County Commission.
Unlike the County Commission, which is controlled by Democrats, the state House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans, so if LaMarca wins he’d serve in the majority party.
Moraitis is the only Republican who lives in overwhelmingly Democratic Broward who serves in the state Legislature. If he isn’t succeeded by a Republican, there won’t be anyone who lives in the state’s second largest county who serves in the majority party in Tallahassee, though a few Republican-held districts in Miami-Dade County include small parts of south Broward.
LaMarca may face a primary. David Hasenauer of Pompano Beach filed paperwork to raise money to run in the August 2018 Republican primary but hasn’t reported raising or spending anything since his filing.
Three Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination to run for the District 93 seat: Emma Collum of Fort Lauderdale, Jonathon May of Oakland Park and Stephanie Myers of Fort Lauderdale.
Former Oakland Park City Commissioner Shari McCartney, who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, is running as a Republican to succeed LaMarca on the County Commission.
Broward Republicans have been talking for months about the MoraitisLaMarca-McCartney move. McCartney made it official last week, filing paperwork to begin her candidacy.
So far, she’s the only candidate in the race, but an open seat with no incumbent usually attracts interest from politicians.
aman@sunsentinel.com