State House, Dist. 46: Fiorentino wins decidedly

The Republican withstands a flurry of last-minute ads to win a third term with two-thirds of the vote.

By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 6, 2002

Incumbent Republican state Rep. Heather Fiorentino won a third term to represent District 46 in the state House on Tuesday night, a post she has held for four years.

She beat out Democrat Craig McCart and Libertarian Jon Kueny, taking nearly two-thirds of the votes cast.

Fiorentino, 44, has vowed to beef up teacher benefits, improve seniors' access to prescription drugs and make all kinds of insurance more affordable and accessible.

The race started out slow and quiet. But in the two weeks before the election, McCart launched a flurry of ads attacking Fiorentino's voting record on education and health care. Fiorentino, an elementary school teacher, spent the last days before the election, scrambling to answer his ads.

"I'm glad that the people could see through the advertisements," Fiorentino said Tuesday night, once most of the votes had been counted.

"Most importantly I want to be sure that we make this election into a lesson for our young people, that if you stand up for the right things for the right reasons, you're always a winner."

Fiorentino has said that this will be her last term serving state office. She wants to spend more time with her family.

McCart, 52, who got a little more than one-third of the votes, said he was disappointed in the loss, but vowed to return in two years to run for the seat again. He said his late entry into the race may have played a part in the loss. McCart got into the race in late August, after Democratic candidate Mike Webb dropped out for family reasons.

"I had eight weeks to build a campaign here and we weren't able to do the things necessary to win," said McCart, who is executive director of the Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation of Florida. "But I'm encouraged and in two years I'm going to run for this again. And I'm going to have some time to build a consensus and build support in the coming two years. I've learned a lot in this race, and build on what I've learned."

Kueny, the Libertarian, took less than 3 percent of the votes. Kueny, a retired building supply salesman, is 63.

State House District 46 includes west Pasco, and in the north stretches east to U.S. 41.

-- Jennifer Goldblatt can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is goldblatt@sptimes.com.