State Senate GOP Primary – Melanie Peterson and Geoff Sommers

Coming up on August 14th, Republican voters will have a choice in the State Senate primary. The winner will face Democrat Joseph Abruzzo.
I’ve met both Geoff Sommers and Melanie Peterson several times. Both are pleasant people with interesting backgrounds.
West Boca News asked questions of candidates in a few races covering West Boca. Some of the candidates responded. Most did not. In this race, Ms. Peterson did respond to our questions. We did not love her answers but she did respond. Mr. Sommers did not, even though he told me he would. Abruzzo has not even acknowledged our questions.
There was a Boca Tea Party candidate forum a few weeks ago.
We were impressed with Peterson’s answers at that event. Of course we didn’t agree with her on everything but she spoke well and demonstrated extensive knowledge about policy.
Sommers was less impressive. He looked good in front of an audience and hit some standard talking points. But he did not seem as knowledgeable and at one point we heard an audience member say: “He sounds like a politician.”
We like both candidates. Sommers’ campaign operation appears to be well organized and he is a likeable guy. Peterson is thoughtful, sharp on policy issues, and seems to understand what regular people are going through in today’s economy.
The primary is on August 14th.