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Whoever wins among the four Republican candidates seeking to replace state House District 72 Rep. Tommy Gregory, expectations for effectiveness in Tallahassee will be high.

In his three terms in office, Gregory rose among his Republican colleagues in the House as a low-key, smart, respected, analytical lawmaker. In 2023, as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Gregory led the effort to do what lawmakers had been trying to do for 40 years — sweeping tort reform.

This was legislation that broke Florida’s trial lawyers’ hold on the Legislature with statutes that made them wealthy, made Floridians poorer and gave Florida the reputation as one of the worst states for costly, frivolous lawsuits.

Perhaps one of the ironies of Gregory’s signature legislation is that he is a lawyer himself.

Fellow Republican lawmakers, business leaders and Manatee taxpayers were sorry to see Gregory resign his seat June 30 to become president of the State College of Florida — a win for the college, a loss for taxpayers in Tallahassee.

To be sure, the four Republicans seeking to replace Gregory know much will be expected of them. 

The question now is which of the four — Bill Conerly, Alyssa Gay, Richard Green or Richard Tatem — can extend the legacy?

This is one of those rare races when all four candidates could serve the district well.

On the issues — such as taxation, the role of government, Florida’s property insurance crisis, recreational marijuana and others — little separates them philosophically. They all espouse conservative bona fides. (For the candidates’ position on issues, click the Elections tab on the homepage of YourObserver.com.) 

Which candidate, then, is most likely to serve taxpayers’ interests and be able to play and win in the ugly, jostling-for-power politics that goes on in the Capitol?  

• Gay is playing up her youth. She is the youngest of the four at 32 and a lifelong Manatee resident. “You want fresh, future-minded people in the House; you want younger people to be involved in the process,” she says. 

Gay started her own marketing company. “Starting a business, working with clients, learning to work with people” are all experiences a legislator needs, she says.

While attending (and eventually graduating from) State College of Florida and the University of Florida, Gay served as a legislative intern for then-Rep. Steube. That “opened my eyes to the opportunity our legislators have to truly work for the people,” Gay said.

• Green, 39, is a thoughtful senior attorney for the statewide law firm of Lewis, Longman and Walker P.A. In his practice as an environmental, land-use and governmental litigator, Green has found himself entrenched in the dealing with Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Department of Health, Florida Department of Children and Families Services and the Florida Department of Agriculture. 

“My experience includes drafting amendments” to state statutes, he says. “I am not doing this for fame, and certainly not for fortune,” Green told the Observer. “I am doing it to serve.”

• Conerly, 59, is a senior project manager and shareholder at the Kimley-Horn engineering and planning firm. A resident of Manatee since age 15, he also is a Navy veteran. 

Of the four candidates, Conerly talks most stridently about what he wants to accomplish in Tallahassee and his support of Donald Trump. He told Florida Politics in April: 

“We can continue to kick the can down the road, year after year, on issues like immigration, insurance and our quality of life, or we can act. I am running to take quick action, just like President Trump,” Conerly said. “The politicians in Tallahassee should be on notice: I won’t be making excuses or empty promises on insurance rates, I will be lowering them come hell or highwater.”

OK, put the rhetoric aside. That’s not really Conerly’s persona. Many Manatee residents, business owners and members of the Manatee County Planning Commission know Conerly as an even-handed, analytical, trustworthy and smart individual. For the past 12 years, Conerly served on the Planning Commission, 10 of them as chair.

Paul Rutledge, a fellow planning commissioner with Conerly for eight years, says he has disagreed with Conerly at times on the board. But he says Conerly “is very respectful and respectful to the community. His process of getting through difficult situations was very measured, level and unemotional.

“He didn’t take the chairmanship as an ego thing,” Rutledge says. “He wasn’t there to aggrandize himself. We need people who have a heart for service, not just on the board, but in their homes. People’s hearts, how they conduct themselves and how they conduct themselves with people are critical. He’s all good on those. Check the box on each one of those.”

• Tatem is a retired, 30-year Air Force veteran. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Tatem served as a pilot and an assistant professor at the academy.

A Riverwalk resident, Tatem was elected to the Manatee School Board in 2022 in his first run for public office. Props to Tatem for being willing to serve in the often thankless world of public office and wanting to make a difference. 

But here’s the “but”: An ethos of every branch of the armed forces is the mission — completing the mission. Tatem was elected to a four-year term on the school board. Giving up that seat before the end of his term to run for a legislative seat that may be more to his liking is giving up on the mission. It certainly colors perceptions of his motivations — that he is in it for him, to climb to the next step. 

Altogether, each of these candidates would represent the District 72 taxpayers and voters well in Tallahassee. There is no wrong choice. Indeed, it’s encouraging to see the promise of the two young candidates — Gay and Green. They should be encouraged to stay involved in the community and continue to build their reputations and name recognition. Their days will come.

But when you paint an entire picture — someone who has deep roots in Manatee; demonstrated success in his or her profession; has the right principles for limited government, fiscal responsibility and the freedom philosophy; demonstrated the temperament and motivations to serve first for others; and has the learned wisdom of how government and the government process works — one candidate sits above the others.

We recommend: William “Bill” Conerly