Two face residency questions
But House District 96 candidates say they plan to focus on issues
In one corner: a candidate who doesn’t live in the Broward County district she’s seeking to represent. In the other: a candidate who, records show, has lived in Broward for years — even when he was an elected official in Palm Beach County.
Welcome to the 96th FloridaHouse of Representatives district, which includes parts of Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Margate and Parkland. Current state Rep. Jim Waldman, D- Coconut Creek, can’t run again next year because of term limits.
Enter Kristin Jacobs and Steven Perman, two Democrats running for their
Democrats Kristin Jacobs and Steven Perman are running for their party’s nomination.
The winner of the primary in the overwhelmingly Democratic district is virtually guaranteed to go to Tallahassee.
party’s nomination to succeed Waldman. The winner of the August primary in the overwhelmingly Democratic district is virtually guaranteed to go to Tallahassee.
Jacobs, a Broward commissioner who is currently serving a one- year term in the largely ceremonial post of county mayor, can’t run for reelection because of term limits. The longtime Pompano Beach resident doesn’t live in the 96th district.
Perman served one term as a Palm Beach County state representative from November 2010 through November 2012. He used the address of his chiropractic office west of Boca Raton for campaign paperwork in each of his four Palm Beach County campaigns. Government records show Perman bought his home and registered to vote in Broward in 1994. He switched his voter registration to Palm Beach County, but maintained the homestead exemption on his Coral Springs home during 2011and 2012, when hewas a Palm Beach County legislator.
He filed paperwork to relinquish the Broward homestead exemption just before the August 2012 primary, which he lost. He filed to get back on the homestead exemption rolls in Broward in November 2012as histermin Tallahassee was ending and he began preparing to run for the Broward seat.
Perman said he doesn’t think the question ofwhere he lived when he was a state representative from Palm Beach County will be an issue in the current campaign.
“My wife and I have owned our home in Coral Springs for 19 years. WhenI served in the Legislature representing then- District 78, I established a legal residency for myself in West Boca. I rented an apartment where I did live. You can ask my neighbors. Iwas there,” Perman said.
Jacobs said she’s represented most of the District 96 territory on the Broward Commission for years, and said she’d move there if she wins. Such an approach would allow her to see what happens in the primary; if she loses, she wouldn’t have tomove.
She said Perman “lived in Broward the whole time” he represented Palm Beach County, but said she doesn’t think residency questions will be a big deal in their contest.
“I think there are greater issues. What I would want to know from my opponent is: How did you vote on vouchers? How do you stand for Democratic principles? That’s what this discussion should be about. Not where we’re living,” Jacobs said.
Perman said he’ll concentrate on explaining his record of getting things done in Tallahassee, where Democrats are in the minority.