For the Florida Senate D20 Democratic Primary, We Recommend Gerald Baldi

Senate President-Elect Jim Boyd is unopposed in this year’s Republican primary. However, two Democrats are vying for the chance to challenge Boyd in the D20 Senate race. We find Baldi to be the stronger of the two options on Democratic voters’ ballots.

Baldi, 70, is a former advertising executive who transitioned into real estate, then into financial services, and finally into banking. He is one of the organizers of Indivisible Manatee’s regular west Bradenton rallies and has been an active community organizer, particularly on national issues.

Baldi didn’t decide to run until mid-March. His campaign has very little online presence, while his grassroots fundraising efforts have also struggled to attract donors. Needless to say, he would face an uphill battle against a well-funded incumbent with very high name recognition in the community, yet we applaud his effort to provide D20 voters with an alternative to Boyd, who has, time and again, voted to eliminate elements of home rule by voting for developer-driven preemption bills in Manatee County, including SB 180 and SB 399.

In a Manatee County League of Women Voters forum (video below), Baldi did a decent job of articulating a platform centered around home rule, environmental protection, and public education.

His opponent, John Houman, is a retired electrician and businessman. He has been a perennial candidate, running for the Florida Legislature in every cycle since 2016. That year, he was unopposed in a Republican primary for the very blue D19, before losing in a landslide to incumbent Democrat Daryl Rousson. In 2018, he switched to D20, losing to Republican Mike Lee in the primary. In 2020, he challenged Boyd in the primary, receiving just under 10% of the vote. In the 2022 Republican D20 primary, he doubled that support to 20% against Boyd.

Frustrated by the party's divisive polarization, Houman switched to NPA in 2023 and ran for the D23 seat but failed to gain traction. This is Houman’s first race since switching parties to run as a Democrat. We applaud Houman’s continued willingness to offer voters a ballot alternative, but feel that Baldi is the better-organized candidate who would pose stronger competition to Boyd in a general election.