Fine and Sheridan draw sharp contrast in State Senate District 19 GOP primary

The Republican primary race for Florida Senate District 19 pits a local businessman with years of state board service but no legislative experience against a longtime state legislator with a proven track record and a history of controversy.

Retired Brevard County general contractor Charles "Chuck" Sheridan faces State Rep. Randy Fine in the Aug. 20 GOP primary for the senate district currently held by State Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who was prevented from running again due to term limits. (Mayfield is running instead for State House District 32.)

The winner will face Democrat Vance Ahrens in the Nov. 5 general election. State Senate District 19 covers most of Central and South Brevard from Port St. John and Cape Canaveral to Micco.

The race in a nutshell

Sheridan, who developed hotels and affordable housing projects through his construction firm, Sheridan Group Hospitality, until his retirement in 2010, has previously run for state and county offices, though none were successful.

He is banking on voter outreach to overcome Fine's name recognition and a massive sign campaign, which Fine has funded through a campaign war chest that includes at least $1.2 million raised through his Friends of Randy Fine political action committee since announcing his candidacy.

Fine is running for State Senate after being termed out of the Florida House of Representatives, where he has represented South Brevard since 2016.

Despite a list of heavyweight endorsements, including former President Donald Trump, a series of controversies that have dogged Fine since his election could threaten to overshadow his record of success on a host of conservative tentpole legislation for some voters.

Sheridan, too, has possible liabilities in a pair of decades-old arrests, including one for felony drug charges that he later pleaded down to misdemeanors, court records show. Sheridan said that arrest was the result of a mix-up with his legally prescribed medication after a car wreck in 2006.

Randy Fine: Fundraising, endorsements and legislative record

Fine raised his profile in the State House off a string of controversial but successful legislation that included the Parental Rights in Education Act — dubbed by critics the "Don't Say Gay" Act — which Fine co-sponsored.

He was among the biggest boosters of Gov. Ron DeSantis in the State Legislature, aiding DeSantis in his recent fight against the Walt Disney Company over its opposition to the bill.

Fine had a public falling out with DeSantis last year over what he said was the governor's lack of action against antisemitic college protestors after the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, changing his support to Trump in the presidential race.

Fine has endorsements from Trump and a number of state and local Republican figures including Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey and U.S. Congressman Bill Posey, as well as organizations like the National Rifle Association and the International Union of Police Associations.

His campaign has raised over $200,000 from individuals, businesses and political action committees, many from outside Brevard County. In addition, more than a million raised through the Friends of Randy Fine political action committee has come from a diverse group of PACs and other interests, including medical and health care companies, real estate interests, insurance companies and some individuals.

Before entering office, Fine was a software executive specializing in gaming technology, and worked as a casino executive and gambling consultant. He served on more than a dozen committees during his State House tenure, most recently the Appropriations Committee and the Education and Employment Committee. He also currently chairs the House's Health and Human Services Committee.

Among his accomplishments, Fine cited his support for the Indian River Lagoon, helping to secure hundreds of millions in state funding for lagoon restoration projects since 2016. He has scored legislative wins in support of Israel and Jewish interests, and bills supporting school vouchers and funding to aid people with disabilities.

In 2021, Fine spearheaded House Bill 7045, which led to the largest expansion of the school choice system in Florida history.

"Every student in Brevard County is now eligible to get a voucher to go to the school of their choice. That was a commitment I made when I ran eight years ago, delivered," Fine said.

Chuck Sheridan: Outsider candidate with state board experience

Sheridan ran unsuccessful campaigns for County Commission in 2014 and State Senate in 2016. Though lacking legislative experience, he has served on multiple state boards, including six years on the Florida Building Code Administrators and Inspectors Board at the appointment of then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

As chair of the board in 2006, Sheridan said, he was granted rulemaking authority under a Bush executive order to increase the number of qualified building contractors following the 2004 hurricane season, which saw the state pummeled by four consecutive storms.

Bush later appointed Sheridan to the Building Code Education and Outreach Council, which served as an information clearinghouse on Florida building codes to the state's construction and development industries.

Sheridan has staked his run on direct outreach to voters in person and on social media, rather than traditional campaign activities like fundraising and advertising. He has reported only about $700 in campaign contributions, on top of about $3,500 of loans to himself.

He is endorsed by former Brevard Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis, the maverick Republican comptroller who frequently clashed with county officials over perceived wasteful spending and government overreach.

The decision to self-fund his campaign came from a desire not to be tied to special interests if he is elected, Sheridan said.

"I don't want to owe any favors to anybody but the voters in Brevard County. I don't want anybody to say, 'You're voting on this because that PAC gave you money, or that lobbyist gave you money.' I want to represent the voters," he said.

Sheridan on the issues: Tax and insurance reform, more affordable housing

Fine and Sheridan agreed the state's affordability crisis was a top priority, and said they would explore ways to lower the cost of living for Floridians. Both expressed continued support for funding and reform efforts to rehabilitate the Indian River Lagoon.

Sheridan said he would fight for property tax reform. That included closing what he said were tax loopholes that benefit large businesses from outside Florida and Brevard County, which he said shifts the tax burden for needed infrastructure improvements to strapped homeowners and small business owners.

He supports top-to-bottom changes to Florida's insurance system to reduce rates and prevent insurance companies from pulling out of the state. Sheridan also said he would fight to incentivize affordable housing construction without placing added tax burden on homeowners.

"I know affordable housing, and what we've got right now in this county and giving abatements, is not affordable housing because they're still going to be charging market rate for the rents," Sheridan said. "We need to go back to affordable housing tax credits, which did work because they didn't cost the taxpayers any money."

Fine on the issues: Illegal immigration, 'woke-ism' in higher ed

Fine said clamping down on surging illegal immigration was one of his major priorities, including eliminating in-state tuition rates for college students living in the U.S. illegally, among other reforms.

"We need to keep working to make Florida the least friendly place for illegal immigrants in the country," Fine said.

He also said he would eliminate in-state tuition rates — which he said amounted to taxpayer subsidies — for what he called "worthless" college degrees as part of his continued fight against "woke-ism" in higher education.

"Taxpayers should not subsidize worthless degrees. If you want to pay to get a degree in gender studies, it's America. But grandma and grandpa should not be paying taxes so that you can get a degree that only qualifies you to flip burgers," Fine said.

Fine's controversies a potential liability at the ballot

Fine's past controversies could prove to be a liability with some local Republicans.

He pulled a funding request for the Brevard Zoo when its director apologized to protestors angered after the zoo rented space for a Fine campaign event. A feud with Brevard County school board member Jennifer Jenkins led her to file multiple attempts at a restraining order against Fine, which were each dismissed by a Brevard judge.

He angered Muslim groups after they said he conflated Palestinians with Islamic terrorists in social media posts calling for violence against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which he later clarified were only aimed at actual terrorists.

He faces potential ethics code violations after text messages that appeared to show him threatening funding for the City of West Melbourne because they invited Jenkins to a Special Olympics fundraiser. (A judge sent the case back to the state ethics board for a rehearing earlier this year.)

More recently, Fine was filmed apparently hiding under the desk of his Palm Bay office by a man who said he was hired to serve a subpoena related to a Jenkins' ongoing public records lawsuit against fellow School Board member Matt Susin. Fine said his actions were "appropriate" and said he was following office safety protocols after receiving antisemitic death threats.

Fine also has a history of inflammatory language against his political opponents, including calling critics of the Parental Rights in Education Act "perverts" and "groomers"; supporters of school mask mandates "child abusers"; and once calling the Jewish organizer of a local Israel-Palestine panel a "judenrat" — a derogatory term for Jews who collaborated with Nazis during the Holocaust — even though Fine himself is Jewish.

In each case, Fine has denied doing anything wrong and chalked the actions up to his reputation as a political fighter and a passionate advocate for his beliefs.

Whether any of it will make a difference remains to be seen. So far, Fine has won previous elections by more than 11 percentage points. He said he wasn't worried about that impacting the race, pointing to his legislative record.

"Look at the results. No one gets more done for Brevard County, year in and year out, than I do. My way works," he said.

Decades-old arrests confront Sheridan

Sheridan could face a stumbling block with some voters over a pair of two-decade-old arrests.

Court records show Sheridan was charged in 2005 with two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by forgery, a third-degree felony. He pleaded no contest to two lesser counts of misdemeanor possession, and adjudication was withheld on both counts, records show. Two additional charges were dismissed.

Sheridan said the incident was the result of a mix-up regarding legally prescribed painkillers following a neck injury in a car wreck, after he tried to have the prescription filled at two different pharmacies.

"I took it to the one pharmacy and they said they were out of it, so they gave me the prescription back, but I guess they put it in their system. So I took it to the place on Merritt Island and had it filled there," he said. He got a call from the first pharmacy a few weeks later saying his prescription was ready, so he picked it up, not realizing he'd done anything wrong, Sheridan said.

He took the plea deal because the case was becoming too expensive to fight in court, he said. "That's what my attorneys recommended, rather than fighting it," he said.

Sheridan added that he'd had the court records expunged, although the records were still available on the court website Thursday.

He volunteered that he'd be arrested once before in 1998 after his 16-year-old son threw a party at their home for some friends, where a police officer believed one of the boys had gotten a beer. Sheridan said the only alcohol that had been in the home at the time were some mini-bottles of liquor that were in his locked bedroom. Court records show the charge was later thrown out.

"I've got nothing to hide," he said. "Why would I? It's all just kind of funny now."

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Fine and Sheridan vie for GOP nod in State Senate District 19 primary