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Four candidates vie for state House seat in Hernando

 
Published Oct. 16, 2014

With state Rep. Rob Schenck leaving the Legislature this year due to term limits, the race for his District 35 seat has drawn a field of candidates with distinctive styles and messages.

Hernando County's Republican Party leader, Blaise Ingoglia, is taking on the mantra of the successful business owner and job creator while also embracing another theme for which he is known in Hernando County — government spending watchdog.

"I have been blessed to live, work and build a business here in Hernando County and believe each of us have a responsibility to give back to our community,'' Ingoglia said of his reason for running. "While Hernando County is a wonderful place already, I believe it can be even better.''

His top issues are job creation and economic development, a better education system for children, vocational workforce training and insurance reform.

His Democratic opponent is Rose Rocco, a former Hernando County commissioner who says she would be a representative who serves her constituents rather than being beholden to lobbyists and politics.

"I'm just an advocate for the people, and when I saw who was running for this position I said no,'' she said. "I want to get up and do something that is going to make a difference. I'm not going up there to be the speaker of the House. . . . I'm going up there to be Rose Rocco, an advocate for the people.''

Two no-party candidates are also vying for the job: constitutional conservative Hamilton Hanson and James Scavetta, a Spring Hill gun shop owner. Neither agreed to a formal interview or filled out the questionnaire sent to them by the Times.

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Rocco said she decided to run when Ingoglia refused to tell her his platform until he had spoken with his political consultant.

"He is going to be walking in lock step with whatever (Gov.) Rick Scott and whatever the party wants him to do, and that's not representing the people,'' she said. "I'm going to give the people a choice.''

Rocco's campaign style is grass roots, knocking on doors and visiting with people she met during her commission years and since from throughout the House 35 district, which includes all of Hernando County except for the northwestern quadrant.

While she is reluctant to go into negative campaign mode against Ingoglia, she says that his history is a problem. His Government Gone Wild seminars whipped many county residents into a frenzy over county government spending. The result: Good county employees lost their jobs, and a negative stamp was put on all of county government, Rocco said.

She said she would like to see Ingoglia in a public candidate forum answering live questions.

"He does not speak on issues,'' she said. "He talks about what a great businessman he is and how aggressive he is. Being a great businessman or aggressive is great as long as you don't hurt the people you're doing business with.''

Rocco said that everything people need to know about Ingoglia, "they can find on the Internet."

During his Government Gone Wild seminars, which got started in 2007, the statistics Ingoglia used were criticized for their inaccuracy.

He made his money in the building and related industries during the housing boom and specifically marketed homes to out-of-area investors. His critics say he is one of the builders who played a role in the housing market bust. In marketing materials that he used when he was on the speaking circuit about land investment, he claimed to be one of Florida's top home builders, a title that turned out to be an exaggeration.

More recently, in fact the week Ingoglia announced his candidacy, his name was published in the annual listing of property owners who had failed to pay their property taxes on time.

Immediately after the Times questioned that, Ingoglia paid $11,864.75 for two years' worth of delinquent property taxes on his Spring Hill home. Records also showed that he had been late paying taxes on the property several previous years.

He said the bill was sent to the wrong address. Property Appraiser John Emerson said the bill went directly to Ingoglia's home.

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"As the owner of a small business, I know what it's like to budget and make payroll,'' Ingoglia said when asked to say why he was the better candidate for the state House seat than Rocco. "I understand what it takes to create new jobs. I see firsthand the need to provide vocational and workforce training so Hernando workers have the skills they need to succeed. I know the impact of skyrocketing insurance costs on a family's budget.''

Ingoglia's comments came in a series of emails to the Times. Although he scheduled a formal interview with the newspaper's editorial board, he canceled and did not reschedule.

Both Ingoglia and Rocco share the general viewpoints that decisions on education issues need to remain in the hands of local rather than federal officials. They agree that the nuclear cost recovery fee needs to be repealed and that increased state funding is needed for mental health education, identification and treatment.

For Rocco, a key issue is to get people to come out and support the quality-of-life issues, from solving sinkhole and Citizens Insurance problems to supporting Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.

"I want people to get back into the arena,'' she said. "I want to get constituents to get out there and vote so they know that their vote does count.''

Video on Ingoglia's website shows him speaking at a recent political forum where he warned that taxes and government regulation continue to threaten Florida's future growth. While acknowledging that Floridians have had a hand in past economic failure, he said it is time to turn that around.

"The best way to predict the future,'' he said, "is to create the one we want.''

Ingoglia has more than a dozen state and local endorsements by elected officials, and by earlier this month had amassed a campaign account topping $190,000 in financial contributions. Rocco had $6,200 in monetary contributions.

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Hanson, who did not fill out a Times questionnaire instead wrote a letter describing himself as a constitutional conservative. He said he was not seeking endorsements or trying to approve new rules.

At a recent political forum, Scavetta said, "I am not now nor will I ever be a typical politician. I am a patriot.''

Contact Barbara Behrendt at bbehrendt@tampabay.com or (352) 848-1434.