With a commanding 71.15% of the votes, Susan Frantz won the Republican primary for Florida’s House District 78 seat. She will go on to face Democrat Cindy Banyai Nov. 3.
Frantz and opponent Audrey Brooks both were first-timer candidates compared to Banyai, who’s running her fourth race after trying for Florida’s 19th Congressional District in 2020 and 2022, then for Fort Myers City Council in 2024.
The district has no incumbent because Jenna Persons-Mulicka was tapped by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the Lee County Supervisor of Election seat after Supervisor Tommy Doyle’s January retirement.
Frantz found the winning strategy?
Raised in Fort Myers, Frantz founded Frantz Marketing Solutions more than 15 years ago. She’s on the advisory board for Florida Gulf Coast University’s Lutgert College of Business as well as the board of the nonprofit Our Mother’s Home, Cancer Alliance Network and SWFL Inc. On her website, she calls herself a “Trump Republican – Florida First, MAGA always.”
Who is the Democrat who will face Susan Frantz?
A teacher, small business owner and community activist, Banyai describes herself as a “servant leader” who is aiming to “put the state back on the right track for the people, not the powerful,” according to her website.She says she’ll “think together with all leaders, regardless of party, to … focus on policies that drive an efficient, transparent government, which creates jobs and makes housing more affordable and accessible.”
Where is Florida House District 78 and who lives there?
State House terms are two years each and representatives may serve up to four consecutive terms.With the Caloosahatchee as its northwestern border, the dependably Republican district is entirely in Lee County, and includes much of the Fort Myers area, extending east to include some of Lehigh Acres and south to Island Park.At the time of the 2022 redistricting, the district had about 179,500 residents, according to the Florida Senate website.
A look at campaign finances in the District 78 race
Fundraising was unevenly matched in the race, with Frantz getting started in March with a $100,000 loan to herself. By election day, she had raised a total of $124,456.00 and had spent $210,026.20 compared with Brooks, who had $6,000 in loans and $3,300.16 in contributions. She’d spent $9,214.45.
Amy Bennett Williams is a senior reporter for the Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press. Reach her at awilliams@news-press.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: GOP primary: Susan Frantz handily wins Florida House District 78 race
Reporting by Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
