State Rep. Matt Willhite (D-District 86) is wrapping up his first term in office and will be asking voters to return him to Tallahassee during the Nov. 6 general election.
In his bid for re-election, Willhite will once again face Royal Palm Beach businesswoman Laurel Bennett, the Republican nominee. Willhite defeated Bennett in November 2016, taking 57.6 percent of the vote and winning the right to succeed former State Rep. Mark Pafford, who stepped down due to term limits.
District 86 includes most of the western communities, including all of Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and Loxahatchee Groves.
Willhite is a longtime Wellington resident, a former Wellington councilman, an active firefighter and a veteran. He said that his personal ties to the western communities and his commitment to serve as a firefighter, veteran and politician have allowed him to represent the interests of his constituents to the best of his ability.
“I always try to do things to keep the district sustainable, and I’ve been able to do this not only by serving as a firefighter, but also by serving the public at the village and state levels,” he said. “And at the state level, even though I represent District 86, we vote for things that will affect the state as a whole. So, I vote on issues, not on politics or on partisans, but on issues that affect people each and every day.”
During his first two years in office, Willhite said he put forth efforts to best represent the diverse and sometimes conflicted population of District 86. His goal has been to support measures that will not harm people and will ultimately be for everyone’s benefit. Sometimes that takes compromise and listening to divergent viewpoints.
“I’ve learned that you can’t be effective by going into something arguing. You actually have to show up and do the work,” he said. “I like to make sure that I’m helping people, and I hope that the things that I’ve done represent that.”
Willhite said that he understands that it is his job to represent the needs and wishes of the area. “I’m trying to make sure we are shaping the community to what the people want it to be, not what I want it to be,” he said.
Along with his commitment to serve the wide range of opinions of his constituents, one major issue became more prominent for Willhite during his first term in office: school safety.
“Two years ago, when I ran for office — and even 10 years ago when I ran for council in Wellington — education was an important topic, but the recent school shootings have shifted all focus,” he explained. “Forty percent of schools in Palm Beach County don’t have a police officer present, and so we have to wonder what do we tell those kids or those parents? School safety has become an issue in not only our country and state, but in our very own backyards.”
Willhite explained that education and school safety became a strong focus for him, especially after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. For Willhite, part of allowing students in the county to have positive educational experiences is ensuring that they have all the necessary resources available.
“I have two kids who go to Binks Forest Elementary School in Wellington, which is one of the best schools in Palm Beach County, and there are no police officers at that school,” he said. “There are a lot of issues in this conversation, even that police officers also don’t have their own police cars but are still expected to drive from school-to-school in their [personal] cars.”
He described how times are very different now than a generation ago. “I don’t think that we all fully realize how much times have changed since we went to school,” Willhite said. “Kids now deal with so many more things that we didn’t deal with. We now have eight-year-olds in this country who are so badly bullied that they want to take their own lives. If kids don’t have support at home, they should have it at their school… I want kids to be able to sit in a classroom and be able to learn, and how can they learn if they’re worried about all of these other things?”
Willhite aims to continue working to better the education and school safety issues affecting Florida, as well as to ensure that the average taxpayer’s money is being used to its full potential.
“It’s important to note that parents — and all taxpayers who don’t have kids — are paying taxes for our schools, but that money isn’t currently going into making schools safe,” Willhite said.
Healthcare, senior issues and veterans’ issues are also some important topics that Willhite hopes to continue working on if re-elected.
“Healthcare is a big issue nowadays, and the federal conversation going on concerns me that seniors aren’t getting the healthcare that they need,” he said.
In his first term in office, Willhite worked toward getting a PTSD bill passed, which allows veterans dealing with post-traumatic experiences to get the help they need in order to live healthy and productive lives after their military service.
Willhite hopes that his devotion to, and open communication with, his constituents will ultimately let him prevail on Nov. 6.
“I hope to be re-elected because I truly am attentive to the needs of the community,” he said.
