News Articles
'Whistle Stop' rally comes to six-county area
Washington County News, June 12, 2010
The Florida Republican Party and local parties provided an opportunity for citizens an opportunity to meet and greet citizens Saturday as the GOP Whistle Stop rolled through the Panhandle.
Local and statewide GOP candidates were part of the rally that made stops in Chipley, Bonifay, DeFuniak Springs, Ft. Walton Beach, Gulf Breeze and Pensacola in an all-day affair that started at 9 a.m. at the old depot in Chipley and finished at 5:30 p.m. at Plaza deLuna in Pensacola.
Gubernatorial candidates Rick Scott and William Crawford were on hand, with both running as conservatives.
“At the state level there are too many special interests that impact our budget every year,” Scott said. “We have the highest unemployment on our record in the state, and for the first time since 1946 we have more Floridians moving out of the state than moving in. We have got to change the path we’re going down. We can’t make minor changes and expect big results.”
Crawford, a Hernando County businessman, called for freezing government employee pay, reduce government spending by 10 percent, increasing penalties for hiring undocumented workers, and increasing student test scores while abolishing the FCAT.
Colorful US Senate candidate Dr. William Escoffery was on hand with his “Obama No” sign and white Panama hat. He said he is not running as a mere political reformer.
“I don’t want to got to Washington, DC to change things, I want to go there to break them up,” Escoffery said. Escoffery said immigrated from Jamaica 35 years, “and I want all immigrants to come here the same way I did – legal.”
Candidates for State Senate District 2 Greg Evers and Mike Hill were also on hand. The winner would succeed State Sen. Durell Peaden, whose term limits have expired.
Evers is the outgoing state representative from District 1 in Santa Rosa, Escambia and Okaloosa counties. “I will never be a professional politician,” Evers said, and said that as a businessman he is making “hard choices” in the current economy, “and the state must make the same tough choices in these challenging economic times.”
Hill, a 1980 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, is a private businessman with a State Farm insurance agency in Pensacola. Like Evers, Hill is running on a strongly conservative platform. He was critical of the government’s handling of the oil spill disaster.
“Now is the time for leaders to take charge, not to take cover and cast blame,” he said. “Real leaders step up and take action, not back down and point fingers.”
Also on hand was candidate for Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is relinquishing his seat in the US House of Representatives to run for ag commissioner. Putnam nothed that he is a fifth-generation Floridian and said his goal was not only to improve conditions for agriculture in the state, but also increase awareness of agriculture.
"It's time we realized tha agriculture is a high-tech business, not some mom-and-pop Norman Rockwell photo," he said.
District 5 State Rep. Brad Drake was also on hand.
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