Florida Politics
By A. G. Gancarski
June 3, 2022
A leader in the Florida Senate is looking to serve in Washington.
As expected for some weeks, Fernandina Beach Republican Sen. Aaron Bean is entering the race in Florida’s new 4th Congressional District.
In a release to media Friday, Bean announced that he was in, an announcement that came after a methodical pre-candidacy period.
“Our nation is at a crossroads, being ripped apart at the seams by a liberal agenda that stifles economic growth and seeks to silence family values,” said Bean. “We’re enduring rising inflation, gas prices that are crippling hardworking Americans, unprotected borders, a loss of respect for law and order, and constant federal overreach by a government attempting to tell us that they know what is best. I will not rest on the sidelines. I will stand up for the free state of Florida and carry the torch of conservative Northeast Florida and the Ron DeSantis Doctrine, a doctrine of freedom for all Americans, to Washington.”
The statement of candidacy was filed Thursday, a seeming precursor to a formal announcement. Bean told a crowd at the Clay County Farm Bureau Fish Fry Thursday that he was in the race, offering further confirmation that he was in.
Bean, the current President Pro Tempore of the Senate, will see heavy establishment backing in what already is a spirited Primary battle between political outsider Erick Aguilar and state Rep. Jason Fischer.
“Washington is in dire need of strong conservative voices and voices that will not be silenced when challenged,” Bean said. “When we ran our local business, my wife and I were proud to be able to get up each day and work hard, employ our neighbors, and be a part of the workforce and business engine that contributed to the local economy. My background and perspective are unique, and I look forward to sharing with my community my vision for the nation, state and region.”
Compared to his major opponents, though, Bean’s messaging strikes a more inclusive tone. His campaign website assures that “when we do the right thing, our best days are still ahead,” and the candidate says he wants to take his “public servant’s heart to Washington.”
The Senator confirmed as early as April that he was looking at a run in the new district in Northeast Florida.
The new CD 4 will replace the current Florida’s 5th Congressional District, which sprawls to Gadsden County from Jacksonville’s Urban Core.
And unlike the current CD 5, a minority access district represented by Democrat Al Lawson, it is drawn for a Republican outcome, in what the Governor has called a “race-neutral” approach to map making.
Nassau, Clay and Duval County areas north and west of the St. Johns River are included in the new district. Donald Trump carried the district by 7 points in 2020, and Gov. DeSantis by 5 points in 2018.
And this will not be a majority-Jacksonville district.
Growing Clay County will make up 44% of GOP Primary voters. Duval will account for 35%, and Nassau 21%. Bean, who lives in Nassau, is expected to draw on early support from Clay County (including former Sen. Rob Bradley and future House Speaker Sam Garrison) and from Duval County (Property Appraiser Jerry Holland). Sen. Travis Hutson is also on board.
Bean, a graduate of Jacksonville University and former Mayor of Fernandina Beach, has been an elected office mainstay for decades, and hasn’t faced serious competition in years. He won all his General Elections for Senate with more than 60% of the vote.
Though this new district sees a Republican advantage, Democrats will compete.
Former state Sen. Tony Hill and previous congressional candidate LaShonda Holloway are both actively campaigning. Hill is a current aide to incumbent Al Lawson, while Holloway ran against Lawson multiple times in recent years.
The last thing we need is another Big Banking, Big Pharma funded career politician with work experience at Big Hospital as a “Relationship Manager.”
Veterans and everyone else needs to think twice before voting for this guy. He took no interest in a fraudulent account statement from a state chartered institution. It was an account funded upon the death of a veteran who routinely risked his life in the service of his country.
False account statements from government regulated financial service companies – where will that lead us as a nation?
If you ever have trouble with a Bank or Insurance Company, my guess is Senator Bean will not be much help.
It seems the safest criminal activity these days is white collar crime.
Bean’s statement trashes Washington and liberals but doesn’t include one policy proposal that will help improve the lives of North Floridians or help unite our country. If you want more of the same out of Washington, elect Bean.
Democrats and Republicans may fight over abortion rights, minimum wage, etc. But when it comes to banking and war there is hardly a difference. Consider the bank bailouts. Consider foreign aid. Look at the voting records.
We need a whole new crop of politicians who realize nonsensical complex regulations are imposed upon middle class business owners for the purpose of squeezing them out of existence. Half of America is living paycheck to paycheck. It is like everything is to become a “Big Box” store.
https://youtu.be/I5qamYpmODA
If one where to choose a candidate based simply on the corporate funding picture Erick Aguilar comes out on top. Bean has $1.6 Million in funding and much of it comes from organizations connected to Big Pharma and Big Banking. On top of that Mr Aguilar had the cajones to put on his webpage “No Mandates, No Lockdowns”
Senator Bean talks about inflation on his website but doesn’t mention that the cause is an unconstitutional banking system that has made the Federal Government like a teenager with a credit card.
After collecting taxes, the Federal Government, never has enough money. Treasury Bills are printed and sold to make up the difference. When the Federal Reserve buys those Treasury Bills they use money that is created out of nothing. The money supply is inflated. Your dollars are worth less. Before you know it a cheeseburger will cost $50.
Federal Government expenditures is the main thing that is driving inflation – not the “Putin price hike.”
It is interesting that Senator Bean makes no mention of his former life as a banker on his campaign website – while wikipedia does.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Bean
This is not an endorsement or opposition to Bean – just my opinion on the comment posted: Every politician’s statement lately is: “The other side is bad and your life will be really bad if you vote for them. So you should vote for me instead. I’m the only one who can save you from doom and gloom.” No one argues positions or goals anymore.
He voted to privatize our beaches. No vote from me.
Very disappointed that he voted for DeSantis’ gerrymandered redistricting. Hope the court overturns it.
Good grief! Do any Conservatives other than myself read and post on this platform? Aaron Bean has represented the folks of Nassau County and parts of Jacksonville for years now. Cherry pick a few issues you don’t agree with him on and then trash the man? Overall we couldn’t have asked to have a better State Rep, State Senator, and soon to be House Member in Congress. Go Bean! Keep up the good work.
I believe Aaron will do us a great job in Washington!!
Aaron Bean has never represented me or my interests, and he won’t in the future. He, like nearly all Republicans, represented multi-millionaires and their interests: keep wages low, limit immigration in order to curtail movement in the labor force, promote corporate welfare, starve regulatory agencies that keep us safe and healthy and financially stable, make it hard for middle-class businesses so that large corporations have no competition, and promote wars on other areas of the planet to keep people afraid and defense contractors profitable. There is a reason people who understand how politics works are called progressive – we want progress, not a 1950’s fantasy of how life “used to be.”
Yeah buddy, we’ve really got progress going on now don’t we? Gas nearly $5 a gallon and rising, food costs through the roof, retirement investments evaporating away, crime rampant, borders wide ass open, fools running the country and economy in the ground. Tell us more about how progressives are the answer to all our problems.
While I don’t agree with state senator Bean’s candidacy statement, I do appreciate his years as a public servant.
I am disappointed with his divisive campaign language. He uses polarized terms such as “our nation..being ripped apart by a liberal agenda”. Apparently he sees half of his constituency–those of a liberal persuasion–as his enemies.
It is my hope that Mr. Bean’s future campaign rhetoric will include all of his those he seeks to represent, rather than dividing us with more of the anger and worry that we have been experiencing since the last election.
DeSantis DOCTRINE????!!!!!!!!
Far from a liberal agenda, it’s more state oversight, mandating what our kids read, what they study, interfering with family planning and healthcare. That’s not the Republican way.
Well said and appreciated. Finally someone that appears to be capable of intelligent conversation and independent thought.
Bean worked with besties John and Catherine Drew to secure a $1 million annual state payment for their company Florida Psychological Associates that was to continue in perpetuity until he was found out and called out. The company didn’t do the work it said it would do and to this day the public money this company received hasn’t been properly accounted for, as asked for by the state.
just a short question- what are your Zip codes of coverage going to be ?