2018 Candidates Questionnaire - St. Lucie Cultural Alliance

St. Lucie Cultural Alliance asked local candidates to share their views on arts and culture and the quality of life value they bring to our community. SLCA reached out to all local St. Lucie County Commissioner and State of Florida legislative candidates based on information available on the Florida Department of State Candidate Tracking System. We will add additional responses as we receive them.

SLCA applauds all of the 2018 candidates who responded and completed the questionnaire. Thank you for taking the time to educate and inform voters of your views.

Read on to learn more, and be sure to vote! Note: SLCA does not endorse candidates for political office.

DISTRICT 2: County Commissioner Candidates

Anthony Bonna (REP)

Sean Mitchell (DEM)

DISTRICT 54: State Representative Candidates

Nicole Haagenson (DEM)

We have not yet received a response from Candidate Erin Grall

DISTRICT 83: State Representative Candidates

Toby Overdorf (REP)

Matt Theobald (DEM)

Read all of the 2018 Candidate Responses

SLCA invited all local St. Lucie County Commissioner and State Representative candidates to complete the questionnaire. We have not yet received responses from candidates in the following races:

Candidates – County Commissioner, District 4:

Helen Viviane Henderson
Frannie Hutchinson

Candidates – Florida House of Representatives, District 55:

Audrey Asciutto
Cary Pigman

Candidates – Florida House of Representatives, District 84:

Mark Gotz
Delores Hogan Johnson

Candidates – Florida Senate, District 25:

Gayle Harrell
Robert Levy

KEY POINTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Arts and Cultural Contributions to Economic Vitality: The arts and cultural sector leverages both private and public funding to contribute to economic development for St Lucie County. We asked: How do you view public investment in the Arts & Cultural sector as it contributes to the economic vitality of St. Lucie?

Attracting the Best and Brightest for St. Lucie: St. Lucie County’s diverse arts and cultural activities complement Treasure Coast initiatives to attract and retain new talent and businesses, making our county an interesting and desirable location that supports both professional development and personal/family enjoyment and entertainment. We asked: As an elected official, how would you work to make Arts & Culture a part of your economic development policies?

Educational Impacts and Arts Integrations: There is a broad scope of education programs (including STEM/STEAM focuses) initiated and managed by the arts and cultural community in support of St. Lucie County students and teachers. We asked: How would you describe the significance of art education programs and how would you support the continuation and growth of similar educational contributions within St. Lucie?

Enhancing Tourism and Cultural Destination: Arts and cultural programs promote the County's reputation as a destination attracting tourists as well as providing affordable creative and entertainment opportunities for our residents. We asked: Do you support public investment for Arts & Cultural initiatives to further develop St. Lucie County as a cultural destination?

Personal/Public Engagement: Candidates were asked to describe their personal engagement with Arts & Cultural programs as a private citizen and to describe their prior work to support Arts & Culture through the public leadership roles (elected or other) which they have held. We asked: How have you supported Arts & Culture in St. Lucie County through your work in public office and/or as a private citizen?