Caldwell faces two challengers in District 79
State Rep. Matt Caldwell, District 79, faces two opponents in the Nov. 8 General Election. Also vying for the seat that includes North Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres are Democrat John W. Scott and Matt Miller, who is running with no party affiliation.
Matt Caldwell
Age: 35
Residence: North Fort Myers
Occupation: Real estate appraiser
Education: Bachelor of Arts in History from Florida Gulf Coast University.
Family: Wife, daughter
Republican Matt Caldwell is shooting for his fourth and final term in office. He said while much has been done while he’s been in office, there’s still a lot that is left to do.
“You can’t get everything you want to get done finished in a single year. There’s a lot to do with environmental issues, tax policy and other things that are important to Southwest Floridians,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell said he is continuing his fight for Everglades restoration, as well as projects in Lee County that will clean up the Caloosahatchee River, such as getting rid of septic tanks, restoring creeks and wetland marshes and infrastructure projects that will keep stormwater out of the river.
Caldwell has also served on the tax and finance committees, where he said he would find ways to go after the tax system in more innovative ways.
“We’ve eliminated much of the corporate tax, trying to make Florida as appealing as possible to business. The next phase is to possibly get rid of property tax and swap it for a sales tax,” Caldwell said. “We want to see if we can make it a reality.”
Caldwell said with the success the Legislature has had for the last six years is enough proof he should be reelected for a fourth term. Another advantage would be there would be no downtime needed to learn the governmental process.
“I want to continue to meet those expectations. Certainly, there’s no learning curve for an incumbent. We want to finish the goals we’ve set for ourselves. I think we have a great chance of getting them done,” Caldwell said.
John W. Scott
Age: 46
Residence: North Fort Myers
Occupation: IT specialist
Education: Computer and Information Science, Edison Community College
Family: Married
Democrat John Scott is a lifelong Floridian who has lived in Lee County since 1979. He said his opponent, Caldwell, inspired him to make a run himself.
“When you’re dealing with legislators who are entrenched in their positions because of where their money comes from, it inspired me to run,” Scott said. “As a citizen advocate for the environment, it’s frustrating trying to make real change.”
Scott said the environment is the main thrust of his campaign because many of the issues are affecting the economy, from tourism to property values.
“Everything is affected by the water. the issue of fracking also brings up problems. There are number of ways the water impacts Southwest Florida. Having been a resident, I’ve seen the destruction of the environment because of the money in the political system influences things a certain way,” Scott said.
Scott also called for raising the minimum wage to a living wage.
“The average minimum-wage worker is 29 years old and they’re trying to raise a family on $7.25 an hour,” Scott said. “The people who are complaining about raising minimum wage are the same ones complaining about welfare and food stamps.”
Scott said his campaign is funded by the people, unlike Caldwell, who he says has a “laundry list” of donors from special interests.
“I would like to serve the people of Florida and not the big money special interests my opponent is running on,” Scott said. “That’s where we differ.”
Matt Miller
Age: 46
Residence: Alva
Occupation: business owner
Education: High school, military
Family: married, five children
Unaffiliated candidate Matt Miller is a citizen advocate who can usually be found at every County Commission meeting. He says he does this to make sure the money spent and decisions made are in the best interests of the people.
Miller said he is running because he is tired of representatives working for special interests rather than for the people.
“I’m fed up. I don’t see a good future for my kids. How much are we going to go into debt before we put an end to it?” Miller said. “If I spent money the way the government does, I’d be broke. We’re overtaxed.”
Miller said the budget is a huge deal, as is the Second Amendment, and water, which is the biggest issue.
“We need to test the water from Okeechobee to the mouth and find out where it’s coming from. We don’t know if it’s Big Sugar. We can find out where its coming from,” Miller said.
Miller said he is against Common Core, believing in a more localized way to teach the kids, and the budget, which he said he wants to reduce because, while it justifies government jobs, it doesn’t help the working class.
“It doesn’t take four trucks to watch one guy cut down a tree. That’s wasteful. It doesn’t make sense; that just on the local level,” Miller said.
Miller said he’s self-funded because he doesn’t want to be part of the establishment and their PACs.
He also targeted the incumbent’s donor base.
“If you see what he’s done here, he’s done nothing.” Miller said. “If you want to know who people represent, follow the money.”