Community Development District 6 hopeful Pat Francis brought a secret weapon to Saturday’s candidate meet-and-greet at Colony Cottage Recreation Center.
She brought homemade cookies.
No, they were not purchased in the deli at Publix. They were baked in her kitchen in the Village of Bridgeport at Miona Shores.
And her flyers? They sport a photo of Francis with Gov. Rick Scott.
The well-known Villager was at a table at the League of Women Voters-sponsored event with her daughter, Patty Hoxie, who serves as a supervisor in Community Development District 11.
State Sen. Dennis Baxley was the highest-profile candidate at the LWV event and worked his corner of the room.
The event was heavily populated by CDD candidates who fielded questions about hot topics in The Villages, including deed restrictions and the conditions at postal stations in The Villages.
CDD 5 Supervisor Gerald “Jerry” Knoll is on the mend from recent hip surgery. He may have needed a cane, but he scored a choice spot near the door so he could interact with voters coming to and leaving the event. He faces a challenge from Charles Vaughan of the Village of Sunset Pointe, who did not attend the event.
Derrel Strickland is running for the Wildwood Commission and his opponent, Marcos Flores, was also a no-show at the LWV event.
Strickland said reaching out to Villagers is important.
“I am well known in Wildwood,” he said. “This where I need to do my work.”
Strickland, the longtime pastor at Oxford Assembly of God, has been an announcer for many years at Wildwood football games and his wife of 48 years is a retired Wildwood school teacher.
First-time voters in the Village of Fenney will be important in November, Strickland said.
Sara Rich, a member of the LWV, brought her daughters, seven-year-old Julia and four-year-old Caroline.
“It’s important for them to learn about how our democracy works,” she said.
The LWV has put together a voters guide which is available at https://www.vote411.org/