Three candidates seeking election for Florida State House seat address crowd at Meet the Minds luncheon

The Argus Foundation (ArgusFoundation.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to joining business leaders from diverse industries and leveraging their talents and experience to benefit the community, held a candidate forum with the three candidates running for the Florida State House District 72 seat, which is being vacated by Florida Rep. Ray Pilon.

Candidates John Hill (R), a former television news correspondent; Ed James III (D), a fourth generation Sarasota native and licensed insurance agent with State Farm; and Alex Miller (R), chief executive officer of Mercedes Medical and the former Sarasota Memorial Hospital board’s vice chair; addressed a room of more than 100 attendees on Thursday, July 14 at The Francis. Each answered questions on a variety of issues, including education, taxes, Enterprise Florida, transportation and incentives.

The two Republican candidates will face a primary on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 before the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.

“Our Meet the Minds luncheons include guest speakers and political figures to discuss the important issues impacting the community, state and world,” said Rod Hershberger, president of The Argus Foundation. “This candidate forum allowed the Argus Foundation members and the business community to hear from these potential representatives and ask questions about issues important to them.”

Several elected officials were also in attendance to hear from the candidates, including Clerk of Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing, Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates, Charter Review Board Member Richard Dorfman, School Board Chair Shirley Brown, School Board Candidate-Elect Eric Robinson, Sarasota City Commissioner Liz Alpert, Sarasota City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell, Sarasota City Vice Mayor Shelli Freeland Eddie and Candidate for School Board Teresa Mast.

Meant to educate and stimulate, the Argus Foundation’s Meet the Minds events feature informative guest speakers who discuss the important issues impacting the community, state and world.

About The Argus Foundation

Established in Sarasota in 1983, The Argus Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to joining business leaders from diverse industries and leveraging their talents and experience to benefit the community. The organization, which seeks to facilitate communications between the public and private sectors, has more than 170 members from 50 different industries. For more information, visit ArgusFoundation.org.