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Tiny Polk District Pits 2 Conservatives
Jason Sager and Richard Nugent Vie for Republican Nomination to Represent the 5th Congressional District in Northeast Area of Polk
By Bill Rufty
Ledger POLITICAL EDITOR


Published: Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.

LAKELAND | The Republican Primary race in the 5th Congressional District has been one of "more conservative than thou" campaigns.

Jason Sager, 36, a laid-off Brooksville audio visual engineer, is seeking the party nomination over Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent, 59, of Spring Hill in one of the most conservative congressional districts in the state.

The far-flung district stretching from Polk County all the way north through Levy County is represented by Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who is not running for re-election.

The winner of the Republican race Tuesday will face Land O'Lakes Democrat Jim Piccillo, 36, a consultant for small businesses, in the November general election.

The eight-county district has 613,042 registered voters, of which 254,249 are Republicans, 223,381 Democrats and 135,412 members of third parties or independents.

The 5th Congressional District in Polk County covers the northeast area stretching from west of State Road 33 and mostly north of Interstate 4.

Of the 38,040 Polk County voters in the district, only the 15,720 Republicans will be able to vote in Tuesday's primary. Piccillo does not have a primary opponent.

Both men have had to explain dings in their campaigns for the seat that everyone had assumed would be incumbent Brown-Waite's for as long as she wanted.

Nugent got caught up in the Brooksville congresswoman's traditional maneuvering against perceived political opponents.

He declared for Congress on the final day of qualifying at almost the same time Brown-Waite announced she would not run again for health reasons and endorsed Nugent.

It was her way of dealing with those she deemed to be political enemies within her own Republican Party by waiting until the last minute to prevent them from running for her seat.

For Nugent's part, he said he had publicly announced long before that this would be his last term as sheriff. The term expires in 2012.

He said Brown-Waite had told him a month earlier she would not run again if he would run in her place, but if he did not run, she would seek re-election despite her health.

Nugent has tried to explain away the perception of collusion by noting that he and his wife did not decide on the run until Saturday before qualifying and that it took almost a week to find the money for the qualifying fee.

There is no denying among most observers that Sager wins the "more conservative than thou" contest.

The question is how conservative does the electorate want to go.

Sager said he began his race in October when he heard Brown-Waite call the U.S. Constitution "a living document," which to him meant it could change or evolve - something he does not believe it can.

For Sager, his political philosophy appeared to run up against the pragmatic makeup of his district on one issue in particular.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Both men say that the nation must immediately stop illegal immigration into the country.

"My opponent supports the weird (U.S. Sen. John) McCain work visa plan," Sager said. "I oppose any path to citizenship for illegals already here.

He said illegals should be deported and put at the end of the line for re-entering the United States.

Nugent said it would be costly to round up 12 million to 14 million illegal immigrants and ship them back to their countries of origin.

Both men agree on hardening the border with Mexico, but Nugent said that should be the first step, not a general round-up.

"Once the borders are protected, then you increase funding to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to stop the employment of those who are in this country illegally and they will return to their homes on their own with the high cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to send them back," Nugent said.

Sager's campaign said he has been endorsed by United Christians of Florida's political action committee, the Conservative Christian Teens of America, the Ronald Reagan Assemblies of Florida and the Tampa 9-12 Project.

Nugent has been endorsed by the state Cattlemen's association and Farm Bureau, the state Fraternal Order of Police and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

http://www.theledger.com/article/201008 ... 15089/1338