The Democratic Women’s Club of Sumter County hosted candidates for the U.S. and Florida Houses of Representatives.
The club welcomed three Democratic candidates on Thursday evening during its regular meeting at the Sumter County Democrats’ office, located at 300 S Main St., Wildwood. Headlining the gathering were Dan Williams, running for U.S. House of Representatives District 11; Royal Webster, also running for U.S. House of Representatives District 11; and Pamala Bivins, running for Florida House of Representatives District 52.
Williams introduced himself as an Indiana native who moved to Florida after college. He worked at Disney for 25 years before making his way to Full Sail University, where he taught computer design for mobile apps and websites for a decade. Drawing on this background, he has planned to bring education and technology to Congress.
“I was a theater kid growing up, happened to become an engineer,” he said. “So I have a technical ability and the ability to actually describe what they are.”
He described his platform as “Direct Democracy,” meaning his votes in Congress would directly reflect those of the district. He also intends to create new bills, such as a Constitutional amendment to make guardrails on presidential pardon power and a digital information protection act.
“I’m trying to put the power back directly in the hands of the people, instead of assuming that one person should speak for 800,000 of us without ever asking our opinions for it,” said Williams.
Webster was born in Miami and joined the army at 18. He worked in military intelligence and ended his career with an office at the National Security Agency. He has since moved back to Florida to teach at West Orange High School, where he focuses on whatever needs to be fixed.
“I’m somebody that fixes problems,” he said. “And God knows we have problems in D.C.”
These problems include a lack of term limits, healthcare and literacy, although Webster believes education is the key to protecting youth and adults alike from being taken advantage of. To that end, he created Project Literacy 2040 to increase the literacy rate in the United States from 72% to 92% in the coming years.
“Don’t ever give up on kids,” said Webster. “Don’t ever give up on this country.”
Bivins, the former mayor pro tem, was born and raised in Wildwood. She served for more than 25 more years as a Wildwood commissioner. She resigned in November to pursue run for the statehouse.
“People have a tendency to complain…but nobody wants to be a part of the change,” she said. “So I just said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’”
Speaking of the community, she wants to take the concerns about healthcare, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, affordable housing and public education to Tallahassee. She called for Democrats, Republicans, and non-partisans to see these issues as human needs that connect everyone as people, not something divisive across party lines.
“When elected, we’re the representatives for all people,” said Bivins. “It does not matter race, creed, color or sexual orientation. You’re elected to serve the people, and that’s what we intend to do.”