by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Two-time former mayoral candidate Mike Weinstein is a candidate for office once again.
Last week, Weinstein filed to run for the Dist. 19 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. That seat is currently held by Dick Kravitz, who is ineligible to run again due to term limits.
“We had a very nice event last night in Tallahassee,” said Weinstein on Thursday.
The event was hosted by Speaker of the House of Representatives Marco Rubio, State Rep. Ray Sansom — who is slated to follow Rubio — State Rep. Dean Cannon — who is in line to succeed Sansom — and former State Rep. John Thrasher.
Weinstein said he does not currently have an opponent and hasn’t heard of anyone interested in the seat. Within the next week, he said a letter will go out explaining who will lead the local campaigning and fundraising efforts. The district encompasses Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties. Tom Petway and Wayne Weaver will co-chair the Duval committee, Thrasher and Jim Horne will co-chair the Clay committee and Toni Crawford and Tom Manuel will co-chair the St. Johns committee.
“They will help solicit support and funds for my race,” said Weinstein, who is the president of Take Stock in Children, which is a statewide agency. “My board wanted me to do this because I can stay with Take Stock in Children and help Northeast Florida through the Legislature. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Weinstein said he’s been thinking about running for the seat even before entering the mayor’s race last fall. He originally believed he could help the community most by being mayor. The funds and the support didn’t materialize.
“When it became apparent that I couldn’t and wouldn’t win the mayor’s race, I fell back and decided to run for the Legislature,” said Weinstein, who believes he has plenty of name recognition in the tri-county area. He spent 15 years in the State Attorney’s Office, helped bring the Super Bowl to Jacksonville as both the head of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and the Super Bowl Host Committee and Take Stock in Children. “People know me in all three counties. Now, they may have varying opinions, but I am known in the community as opposed to being an unknown.”
Weinstein said he expects to raise between $250,000 and $300,000.
“I think $300,000 is more than enough,” he said.
Once the upcoming legislative session ends, Weinstein said he will start planning a big event to kick off the local portion of his campaign.
“The goal is to bring Marco Rubio, Ray and Dean here for an event so Northeast Florida can get to know the leadership of the House,” said Weinstein, adding the event will be during the late summer or early fall. The election is in the fall of 2008.