Erika Booth beat Rep. Tom Keen, who was already in office. (Image from Booth’s page)
Erika Booth went after Tom Keen again because she thought the second time would be different, and it was.
A special election in January gave Keen the chance to serve HD 35, which includes parts of Orange and Osceola counties. She beat Booth and is now the incumbent.
Booth got 52.4% of the vote with more than 95% of stations reporting. Voters were motivated by the presidential race and the attention paid to the abortion and marijuana amendments. Keen had a 51.3% to 48.7% lead in the special election.
Booth, who is a Republican, quit the Osceola County School Board to run for this job. She was endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in the August primary, where she got 63% of the vote. She lives in St. Cloud.
She has worked as a teacher in Osceola County for over 20 years.
Booth did not talk to the media very much during her campaign, and she did not answer when the Phoenix asked to hear her thoughts on topics.
She did tell WKMG in Orlando what she thought about making the Florida insurance market better.
Booth told WKMG, “First, we need to bring CEOs of insurance companies to Tallahassee and have them show us under oath why rates have not gone down yet.”
“Second, we need to create a statewide investigation unit to look for crime, fraud, and profiteering and bring charges against those responsible.”
Booth’s Facebook page for his campaign pushed for protection of rural areas, the environment, better transportation, and cheaper home insurance.
Keen admitted defeat in a social media post: “I am very proud of everything we have done and deeply honored to have represented this community in the Florida State House.”