Green Party candidate for Florida State Senate Brian Moore pulled off a surprising straw vote performance at the July 14 annual Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce forum.
Moore, who is running to represent Florida State Senate District 11, reports a showing of 88 votes to his Republican opponent’s 142 at the Spring Hill-based event. Results publicly shared by the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce show that Moore polled 38.21% of the straw poll vote.
Florida State Senate District 11 includes all of Hernando, Sumter, and Citrus counties, as well as a part of West Pasco County. Incumbent Senator Randolph Bracy III is not running for reelection and is instead seeking the Democratic nomination for Florida’s 10th congressional district. Moore faces off against Republican Blaise Ingoglia, a current state representative and former Chair of the Florida Republican Party, in a two-way race for the general election.
Moore is no stranger to running for office, having previously run for Florida governor in the 2010 Democratic primary. Prior to that campaign, Moore ran for president as the 2008 nominee of the Socialist Party USA.
In a press release shared with Independent Political Report, the Moore campaign attributes its strong showing with the local business forum to its willingness to engage the Republican community. The Moore campaign also criticized Ingoglia for neither attending nor having a presence at the event.
The general election in Florida is scheduled for November 8, 2022. H/T to Joseph Wendt for providing Independent Political Report with the press release.