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Spring Hill candidate for Congress: 'I care about this community — I will scream that from the rafters'

 
Dana Cottrell, candidate for the District 11 seat of the U.S. House of Representatives [Courtesy of Dana Cottrell]
Dana Cottrell, candidate for the District 11 seat of the U.S. House of Representatives [Courtesy of Dana Cottrell]
Published March 7, 2018

SPRING HILL — A Hernando County woman new to the political arena has filed as the fifth Democrat to run against longtime Florida lawmaker U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster for his spot in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dana Cottrell, 49, has lived in Spring Hill since 1988. She said she decided to run for the District 11 seat, which covers Citrus, Hernando and Sumter counties and parts of Lake and Marion, because "we need change."

Along with Webster, a Republican from Webster, Cottrell will compete against four fellow Democrats. They are: Samuel Allen, Tavares; James F. Henry, Hernando; Dave Koller, Ocala; and Ronald L. Reid, The Villages. The job's annual salary is $174,000.

Although she has no experience in politics, Cottrell said she isn't intimidated by the list of candidates, or by Webster, a career politician. She said her longtime interest in national politics combined with her status as a middle-class, "normal American" gives her a leg up.

"I know about the federal government ... I think that is my place," she told the Tampa Bay Times this week. "I'm smart, I'm knowledgeable. I'm going to win."

A former teacher and mother of a special needs child, Cottrell said she supports school choice, but only with stiff regulation. She said she would call for "outside the box" teaching methods, like apprenticeships for older students. She said she will advocate for free college and trade school tuition for those in good academic standing.

Another of Cottrell's interests is congressional reform. She hopes to push for term limits and a congressional pay freeze to "get the money out of politics," and lessen the impact of lobbyists and special interest groups. She suggests the eradication of the Electoral College and wants to see the elimination of "riders," or added provisions having little to do with a bill, from being tacked onto legislation.

She said she supports a ban on assault rifles and bump stocks, and hopes to see legislation requiring background checks and waiting periods for gun purchases. The mentally ill and those convicted of violent crimes, she said, should be barred from gun ownership. Cottrell suggests lawmakers require gun manufacturers to implement fingerprint identification systems, like those used on newer smart phones.

She is running as a Democrat, but Cottrell said some of her ideas cross the political isle.

"We get locked into these boxes, and it's just not right," she said. "There is so much divisiveness."

A graduate of the University of South Florida with a degree in education, Cottrell worked for Hernando County schools from 1992 to 2004, first as a teacher, then as a media specialist.

After earning her masters in library and information science in 2004, she went to work at a school in South Korea for two years, then at a German school until 2017, before returning to Spring Hill.

Now a stay-at-home mom, Cottrell said she finally has the time to fulfill her longtime dream of working in politics.

"I'm not afraid to speak up, and somebody's got to do it — be the voice of reason and sanity," she said. "Now that I have the time to do this, I'm going to."

Cottrell said she hopes constituents will see that she is just like them and has their best interests at heart. Plus, she said, it wouldn't hurt to have another woman in Washington.

"I'm not a politician; I'm a mother, a wife, an American," she said. "I care about this community — I will scream that from the rafters."