Most voters north of Southern Blvd. in Palm Beach County will be choosing between a Tallahassee legislative veteran and a 26-year-old, self-described “political nerd” when they cast their ballot in the race for the Florida Senate in District 31 this fall.
Republican Gayle Harrell, a longtime Stuart resident, was elected to the Florida Senate in 2018 after serving eight terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, and again from 2010 to 2018.
Democrat Aaron Hawkins was born and raised in Stuart and, according to his web site, has Treasure Coast roots that date back more than 100 years.
Though both candidates are Martin County residents, District 31 also encompasses parts of southern St. Lucie County and most of northern and western Palm Beach County, all the way to Lake Okeechobee. This area includes Royal Palm Beach, The Acreage, Loxahatchee, Loxahatchee Groves, Westlake, Arden and western Palm Beach Gardens.
“I think as people go to the polls, they’re going to look at records,” Harrell said. “I have a significant track record over many years. I have a track record of working with people across party lines.”
For the 2022-24 session, Harrell is chair of the Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, vice chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, and a member of the Appropriations Committee, the Appropriations Committee on Education, the Committee on Health Policy, the Committee on Judiciary and the Select Committee on Resiliency.
Hawkins graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in international affairs. Since graduating, he has worked in data management, real estate, small business consulting and organizational management. He returned to Stuart during the pandemic and said it was the struggle he went through as a young person trying to find rental housing in the area’s pricy real estate market that opened his eyes to the need for change.
Hawkins said this week he got into the race because “leaders are not speaking to the concerns of young people like myself… We need people who understand the world we live in today.”
Hawkins noted that Republicans have been in control of Florida government for most of the last 30 years. “A whole host of things have degraded around them,” he said. “It’s time for change.”
For her part, the 81-year-old Harrell touts her long record of community service before and after entering politics. A 49-year resident of the Treasure Coast, she has served on boards of many local civic organizations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in Latin American history from the University of Florida, where she was Phi Beta Kappa.
Harrell was married to the late Dr. James Harrell for 53 years, and said her experience as the wife of an ob/gyn sharpened her views on healthcare, childcare and abortion.
Harrell said she is strongly pro-life, recalling how, “a lot of babies stayed in our home” when mothers could not take care of them. “We helped place many of those children,” Harrell said.
On his web site, Hawkins said he supports Amendment 4, which would lift newly enacted state limits on abortion. He calls the state’s current six-week abortion limit “utterly insane and another example of [the legislature’s] tendency to overreach.”
Overall, however, Hawkins said he prefers to stay away from the culture war battles, believing that most Americans agree on about 60 to 70 percent of most issues.
“I try to stick to my core values… putting people before politics,” he said. “We need to open our ears and open our minds. I’m really focused on policy… and open to making deals with Republicans.”
He wants to put a focus on helping working people.
“Workers and small businesses are the backbone of our state,” Hawkins said. “I want to make sure they continue to have the resources to thrive.”
Both candidates said they strongly support “home rule” through referendums, including allowing residents of the Indian Trail Improvement District to vote on incorporation. Harrell was among the Palm Beach County legislators who supported moving the incorporation referendum bill forward into the House in 2022 and 2023. Neither effort succeeded.
“I believe in local decision-making,” she said. “We have to make sure the state doesn’t interfere unless it has a statewide impact.”
Hawkins, however, said that the legislature already is interfering too much. He said he’d work to get rid of “preemptive laws” passed by the legislature in recent years that he said have taken away home rule powers from counties and municipalities.
Hawkins conceded that he has much to learn about the Palm Beach County swath of the district but said that he has been meeting with local officials, community organizations and attending meetings and forums to get up to speed.
He said “overdevelopment” and the stress on infrastructure it brings seems to be the top concern of Palm Beach County residents. He also said residents cited environmental concerns over the burning of sugar cane fields from October to May, which meshes with his deep concern for Florida’s environment.
Learn more about Harrell at www.gayleharrell.com.
Find out about Hawkins at www.hawkinsforflsenate.com.
