TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A former Leon County commissioner will run for U.S. representative of Florida's 2nd congressional district.
On Monday, Bob Rackleff officially filed as a candidate for U.S. Congress, 2nd District, with Florida’s Division of Elections for the August 28 Democratic Primary Ballot.
The seat is held by Republican Neal Dunn of Panama City.
"In the campaign ahead, I will carry this vision to every one of the 19 counties of the 2nd District – and will challenge Neal Dunn to account for his betrayal of working families," Rackleff wrote in a remark about qualifying for the primary election.
Rackleff is a former Leon County Commissioner (1998-2010). He was an enlisted sailor and Navy officer for 22 years. He was also a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and other Democratic officeholders, a civil rights and environmental activist, and a corporate writer and consultant.
He moved to Tallahassee in 1952.
“I’m running to help win back Congress for the working families of North Florida – to stop the assault on affordable health care, to create good-paying jobs especially in rural communities, and to represent everyone in the district, not just those who support me,” Rackleff said.
The Florida State University grad is a parent to three grown children with his wife Esther Moring, who's been an emergency medical coordinator with Doctors Without Borders since 1995.
Florida's 2nd Congressional District is the largest congressional district in Florida by land area and consists of Bay, Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Jackson, Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla and Washington counties, and portions of Columbia, Holmes, Jefferson, Leon and Marion counties.
