State Sen. Mayfield to run against former U.S. Rep. Weldon for open Florida House seat

Florida Sen. Debbie Mayfield plans to run for a Florida House of Representatives seat, setting up what's likely to be an intense GOP primary against another well-known Republican, former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon.

Mayfield, who cannot seek reelection because of term limits, and Weldon would be running for the Florida House District 32 seat now held by Republican Thad Altman, who is also is being term-limited. Instead, Altman, a resident of Indialantic, is running for the District 5 seat on the Brevard County Commission this year.

On his Truth Justice social media account, former President Donald Trump said he is endorsing Mayfield in the race.

"Debbie Mayfield is a conservative warrior for Florida House, District 32," read the post by Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in the 2024 election. "She is fighting hard to secure our border, grow the economy, support our military/vets, protect parental rights and defend our always-under-siege Second Amendment. Debbie never wavers in her commitment to keep Floridians free and Make America Great Again. Debbie has my complete and total endorsement."

Mayfield said she initially was considering a run for the District 8 congressional seat now held by U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge.

Mayfield said she talked with Posey about two months ago, and discussed a possibility of running for the District 8 seat in Congress if Posey would not be seeking reelection to a ninth two-year term this year. She said Posey at the time indicated he was going to run for reelection. Posey also had filed paperwork to qualify to run and was doing fundraising for his 2024 campaign.

But, on Friday ― shortly after the candidate qualifying period ended ― Posey announced that he would not seek reelection because of "circumstances beyond my control" that he did not elaborate on.

In his announcement, Posey endorsed former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos for the congressional seat. Haridopolos earlier that day entered the race, filing his candidate paperwork and paying his $10,440 qualifying fee less than two hours before the noon Friday deadline.

Mayfield said she took Posey "at his word that he was not retiring, and made the decision to run for the Florida House District 32 (seat) weeks ago." She said she submitted the initial candidate paperwork on Tuesday with the Florida Division of Elections.

Florida House District 32 includes parts of Central and South Brevard.

Weldon, a physician who lives in Indialantic, served in Congress for seven two-year terms. He first won election in 1994 as part of the so-called "Republican Revolution." He won reelection in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Weldon seeks return to government: Former Republican congressman Weldon to run for Florida House seat

Assuming both Mayfield and Weldon qualify to run during the formal Florida House candidate qualifying period in June, they would face one another in an Aug. 20 primary. The winner would face the Democratic candidate in the Nov. 5 general election. Currently, there is one announced Democratic candidate in the race, Juan Jose Hinojosa of Rockledge.

Mayfield brings deep familiarity with Florida Legislature

Mayfield, a resident of Indialantic, has served in the Florida Senate for eight consecutive years, and cannot seek reelection to new four-year term because of term limits. She previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2008 to 2016.

Mayfield currently chairs the Senate Rules Committee, and from 2020 to 2022 held another key Senate leadership position as the Republican majority leader. She is a retired banking executive.

Mayfield said among the issues she will focus on in the campaign are continued funding for Indian River Lagoon projects, septic-to-sewer conversions, wastewater treatment facilities and other environmental initiatives. Mayfield said other key issues for her include finding ways to get more companies into Florida's property insurance market to make the industry more competitive to help keep rates from rising; protecting parental rights and parental choice in education; focusing on public safety issues; and assuring that the federal government doesn't interfere in state issues.

Mayfield said, if elected, her leadership positions in the Florida Senate should help her quickly assume a leadership role in the House.

Weldon criticized Mayfield in anticipation of her joining race

Weldon announced his candidacy in February 2023. He said, if elected, he would "stand firm in defense of life, the Second Amendment, parental rights in education, the rule of law, low taxes and a strong economy. I will take a scalpel to waste and bloat in the state budget, and always uphold our conservative values. Now more than ever, we need proven conservatives in state government to safeguard Florida families from the Radical Left’s extreme agenda."

In a recent letter to his supporters, seeking donations for a fundraising event that was held Tuesday, Weldon criticized Mayfield, whom he suspected would be challenging him in the District 32 race. He said he wondered why — after serving eight years in the House and eight in the Senate — Mayfield would want to return to the House.

"It may not be a violation of the term limit law in Florida, but it is certainly a violation of the spirit of the law," Weldon wrote.

Mayfield said she found it a bit ironic for Weldon to bring up term limits, when there are no term limits for members of Congress, and Weldon served for seven terms, which is more than he initially indicated he would serve for.

Also, Mayfield noted that, when she previously served in the Florida House, she represented a district that primarily was in Indian River County. The district she is seeking now is in Brevard County.

In his letter, Weldon said he wants to go to Tallahassee "to fight for conservative values and to fight for the people of this area."

He said he has endorsements from Posey, Haridopolos, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, Florida Rep. Tyler Sirois and former Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

Fundraising by Weldon, Mayfield

Through March 31, Weldon has raised $96,290 in cash campaign contributions, plus a $20,000 campaign loan from himself and $2,602.26 in in-kind contributions. He has spent $39,308.78 on his campaign so far.

Mayfield will have to start fresh on her direct campaign fundraising for her House race.

But there are ways for her campaign to benefit from the Conservatives for Good Government political committee, which Mayfield chairs. The committee has raised more than $2.45 million in cash and in-kind contributions, and spent more than $1.40 million since 2018, in support of various candidates and political committees in Florida.

Mayfield said that committee could directly donate up to $1,000 to a political candidate like her. It also can spend an unlimited amount of money for advocacy mailings or other political material detailing things to voters about a candidate, but cannot directly say "vote for" "support" or "vote against" a candidate in its political material.

In response to Trump's endorsement, Mayfield posted on her X social media account: "President Trump has been relentless in his pursuit to Make America Great Again, and I am incredibly honored to have his endorsement in this fight."

Mayfield said she is working on lining up other endorsements for her candidacy.

Mayfield said she is disappointed by what transpired in the congressional race, with Haridopolos filing to run just before the qualifying deadline, then Posey dropping out of the race and endorsing Haridopolos shortly after the qualifying deadline. She noted that a political website in a story published Sunday indicated that it had known about Posey's pending retirement months ago through "off-the-record conversations," but did not report on it at the time.

Among other Republican candidates who qualified to run for the congressional seat are Joe Babits of Vero Beach and John Hearton of Satellite Beach. Democratic candidates who qualified included Sandy Kennedy of Cocoa and Daniel McDow of West Melbourne, who is a member of the City Council there.

The district includes all of Brevard and Indian River counties and part of eastern Orange County.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

Congressional race set: Eight-termer Posey won't seek reelection to Congress. Haridopolos among five seeking seat

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Mayfield, Weldon to face off in GOP primary for Florida House seat