With less that two weeks to go before Election Day, Republican Mike Haridopolos and Democrat Sandy Kennedy are making their final pushes to become the next member of Congress representing Brevard and Indian River counties.
The winner will succeed Republican Bill Posey of Rockledge, who has represented the district in Congress for nearly 16 years, but chose not to seek reelection this year to a ninth two-year term.
Haridopolos, an Indian Harbour Beach resident who describes himself as “a mainstream conservative Republican,” owns MJH Consulting, a business and political consulting company. Before that, he was a member of the Florida Senate from 2003 to 2012, including serving as Senate president from 2010 to 2012. He also was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2003.
Kennedy, a resident of unincorporated Brevard north of Cocoa, is an attorney, with a specialty in construction law. She says “I fall within the moderate category” on the political spectrum.
Both became their party’s nominee after winning primary elections on Aug. 20.
The district — which also includes the eastern Orange County communities of Bithlo, Christmas and Wedgefield — is Republican-leading, with 46% of the registered voters being Republicans; 26% Democrats, and 28% either no party affiliation voters or members of minor political parties.
Kennedy says she aims to overcome the Republican voter advantage by capturing the votes of NPA and minor-party voters.
She also says she will overcome Haridopolos’ large advantage in campaign fundraising through her frugalness in her campaign spending.
Their pitch to voters
Both Haridopolos and Kennedy tout their past experience as a reason voters should elect them.
“I think, first and foremost, I have a legacy of being a problem-solver,” Haridopolos said. “I have the experience and knowledge to get things done.”
On his campaign website, Haridopolos describes himself as “a seasoned leader with a rich history of public service, business success, and a steadfast lifelong commitment to conservative values.”
Haridopolos noted that, in 2008, he “sponsored and championed Florida’s constitutional amendment reducing property taxes and allowing homeowners to bring their tax savings with them when they move to a new home.” He said that has saved Floridians $30 billion since 2009.
He said he also “made transforming the Florida Senate into a more conservative policy body a key objective of his Senate presidency.”
Haridopolos said he is ready to “hit the ground running” as a member of Congress.
Kennedy, though, contends that she has “superior qualifications for Congress.”
“My law degree and almost 30 years of practicing law give me great knowledge of constitutional law, environmental law, federal taxation law and the law generally, as well as skills in legal argumentation, writing, interpretation and research,” Kennedy said. “My superior qualifications will lead to superior results for District 8 in all regards, because I am skilled in achieving legal results. I will be a leader in Congress, capable of proposing and writing my own bills, as opposed to a mere follower and voter. All of my policy solutions are well-analyzed, reasonable and destined to be much more effective and actually acceptable by a majority of Congress.”
Kennedy said she has “worked very hard my entire career — in fact, most of my life — and will continue to work that hard and effectively in Congress, and District 8 will benefit from my knowledge and hard work ethic.”
Kennedy also cites her “strong ties to the space industry at Kennedy Space Center, where my husband works, and I have a lifelong military family background. I will vote reliably, and not hold up any military or other critical bills for any political purposes.” Her husband, James Stoker, is chief financial officer of the Boeing Commercial Crew Starliner program at KSC.
And Kennedy added: “I am a woman at a time when it matters and is important. The time is now” for a woman representing the 8th District. She said women are underrepresented in Congress, and she would help bring a woman’s perspective to issues and legislation.
Haridopolos and Kennedy both say the general election campaign has been a positive one, without the attacks against the opponents that sometimes has cropped up in other campaigns locally and nationally.
Here is how the two candidates stand on some of the issues in the campaign:
Abortion rights
Kennedy said she fully supports “all women’s rights, and I am very protective of their rights to be able to obtain all medically advisable health care without governmental interference or delay. I also have a positive plan to incentivize and assist women in giving birth, which is a better, safer way to reduce the number of elective abortions.”
“It is not possible to uphold a woman’s constitutional rights to life, liberty and equal protection of the laws when a state pauses her constitutional rights while she is pregnant, denies her a medically necessary termination of pregnancy until she is on the verge of death, or when her doctors cannot exercise their medical expertise out of fear of prosecution and loss of their medical license,” Kennedy said.
During a recent debate with Kennedy on WESH-TV, Haridopolos said he draws the line on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. He says he also would support exceptions, allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest, human trafficking or when the mother’s life in in danger.
Haridopolos said he opposes Florida’s proposed Constitutional Amendment 4, which would allow abortions in the time frame before “viability” of the fetus. He termed it “abortion on demand.” Rather, Haridopolos said, “What we want to do is have a culture of life.”
Kennedy said she supports Amendment 4, which is on the Nov. 5 ballot for voters to consider, adding that she wants to “protect women’s rights to all medically advisable reproductive medical care without exceptions.”
Both candidates say they support the right to in-vitro fertilization.
Environmental and energy policy
Haridopolos said, if elected, he will vote to sustain the National Estuary Program “to help maintain our nation’s environmental treasures like the Indian River Lagoon,” He said he will join the bipartisan Congressional Estuary Caucus “to help solve the growing problem in our 28 estuaries across the nation.”
Haridopolos said among his campaign issues are making the United States less dependent on other countries for its energy supplies.
“We should not be just energy-independent, but energy-dominant,” Haridopolos said.
Among his proposals is making sure the Keystone Pipeline is built, saying it would cut energy prices, as well as supporting fracking. But he emphasized that he would not back measures that could threaten Florida’s environment.
Kennedy said she opposes fracking and drilling in Florida or off the coasts of Florida, “to avoid destruction of or damage to aquifers, scenic beauty, tourism, waterways and natural resources.”
Kennedy said many experts consider Donald Trump’s presidency “to be among the most punishing to the environment in recent history. During his time in office, Trump officially reversed, revoked or otherwise rolled back nearly 100 environmental rules, regarding clean air, water, wetlands, wildlife, toxic chemicals and safety, drilling and extraction, infrastructure and planning, carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, cars and trucks, mercury emissions from power plants, and loosening efficiency standards for a wide range of products.”
Immigration
Haridopolos said his “top priority is to address the catastrophic crisis at our Southern border. The Biden border crisis has allowed record numbers of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs to pour across the Southern border. Under Biden, over 7 million illegals have entered our nation illegally, and it must stop. We must be a nation of laws and secure the border.”
Haridopolos said, while in the Florida Legislature, he led the fight to defeat a measure to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a driver’s license.
Kennedy describes her immigration reform plan as involving “multiple ways to reduce the numbers of people who come to the border, as well as increasing resources and people to process a backlog of 3 million applications. And my plan is respectful and humane, eliminating unnecessarily and unhelpful harsh processes. My plan also does not involve wasting any money or proposing any wildly impossible actions.”
Kennedy lists 18 proposals on the “immigration and border reform” section of her website, including:
- Prompt path to citizenship for “Dreamers” and long-term residents of the United States.
- Policy of keeping families together, with no separation of children from adults or parents.
- Greater funding for border patrol, border activities, equipment, drones and offices.
- Greater funding and more immigration judges to process the backlog of 3 million immigration and asylum applications.
- Allow immigrants temporary work permits whenever it can feasibly be done so they can support themselves, such as for agriculture or construction in Florida, to reduce the need for public support and to gain more contributions to federal taxes, Social Security, Medicare, etc.
Campaign fundraising
According to latest-available reports from the Federal Election Commission:
Haridopolos: Raised $1,595,000.81; spent $1,161,026.96; and had $433,973.85 in cash on hand as of Sept. 30. He has 1,043 campaign contributions listed. That includes 48 contributions from political committees, including ones tied to AAR (provider of aviation services), A. Duda & Sons (developers of Viera and owner of various agribusinesses), Brightline, L3Harris, SpaceX, The GEO Group (a developer of private prisons) and U.S. Sugar. The totals include $15,000 in campaign loans by Haridopolos.
Kennedy: Raised $30,922.06, spent $22,405.66, and had $8,516.40 in cash on hand as of Sept. 30. Of the donations, $18,188.05 was in candidate loans to herself. She listed five outside donations.
Financial disclosure reports
Haridopolis: He listed among his assets his 100% interest in MJH Consulting in Indian Harbour Beach, listing its value at $1 million to $5 million. These reports require only a range of dollars, not the actual dollar figure.
He reported that he received $1,042,000 in earned income from the business in 2023. He received compensation of $5,000 or more from 42 entities for government affairs consulting or political consulting work, including from five Brevard County municipalities — Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Melbourne, Satellite Beach and West Melbourne. Other clients included the Brevard County Clerk of Courts Office, Heath First and U.S. Sugar.
To avoid conflicts of interest if he is elected to Congress, Haridopolos said he has a deal in the works to sell his business to another company in the consulting industry. He said he already has had his investment adviser sell individual stocks in his portfolio of assets (including Amazon, Apple, Disney and Ross Stores).
Kennedy: She reported no earned income in her financial disclosure report. She said she was focusing on the campaign for Congress, and put her legal work on hold. Her assets included various mutual funds and individual stocks.
Endorsements:
Haridopolos: Donald Trump, former president of the United States and 2024 Republican presidential nominee; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott: U.S. Rep. Bill Posey; U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson; House Majority Leader Steve Scalise; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer; House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik; Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody; Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis; Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson; Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey; plus more than 30 other locally elected officials in Brevard and in Indian River counties. Also, the National Rifle Association and the National Federation of Independent Business.
Kennedy: Democratic Party Environmental Caucus; Democratic Party Jewish Caucus; Care for U.S. Committee to Protect Healthcare; Defense of Democracy; Gun Sense.
More on the candidates
Mike Haridopolos
Political party: Republican
Hometown: Indian Harbour Beach
Age: 54
Occupation: Business and political consultant, author
Education: Stetson University, Bachelor of Arts, 1992; University of Arkansas, Master of Arts, 1993.
Political/government/civic experience: Member of the Florida House of Representatives (2000 to 2003); member of the Florida Senate (2003 to 2012); president of the Senate (2010 to 2012)
Campaign email: Mike@mike4congress.com
Campaign phone number: 321-525-1861
Website: www.mike4congress.com
Sandy Kennedy
Political party: Democrat
Hometown: Lives in unincorporated Brevard, less than one mile north of Cocoa city limits.
Age: 60
Occupation: Attorney for almost 30 years. Before law school, she worked for C.G. Chase Construction Co. in Miami for about two years. Worked almost continuously since about age 16.
Education: Juris Doctor law degree, University of Miami, 1994; Bachelor of Arts, political science, Florida State University, 1989.
Political/government/civic experience: No elected office experience. Community involvement in pro-bono legal work for various parties. In effect, I have gained knowledge and better than political and government experience through my three years of law school, my law degree, my almost 30 years of practicing law, and Bachelor of Arts in political science. Through that process, I have gained professional knowledge of constitutional law, environmental law, federal income taxation law, as well as various law, governmental, political, and U.S. and Russian military subjects — all of which are directly relevant to serving in Congress.
Campaign email: sandykennedyforcongress@gmail.com and info@sandykennedyforcongress.com
Campaign phone number: 321-479-7290
Website: sandykennedyforcongress.com
Facebook: Sandy Kennedy for Congress
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54