By Barbara Behrendt, Times Staff Writer
Friday, September 24, 2010
BROOKSVILLE — Diane Rowden, the Democrat hoping to unseat Republican Robert Schenck as the state House member from District 44, has taken one issue in the race off the table: Her residency.
Rowden, whose Royal Highlands home is in District 43, has officially changed her residence to a leased property near Rotary Centennial Park in Spring Hill. She switched her voter's registration and driver's license once she signed the lease.
"I'm abiding by all the laws that are in place, and I've done it well ahead of schedule,'' Rowden said, referring to the state's requirement that a representative live in his or her district at the time of election.
She said she hoped her circumstances demonstrate a problem with the way district lines are drawn.
"I've been an almost-three-decade resident of Hernando County and, because of the hyperpartisan gerrymandering of the district in 2002, you can't even be a representative to your neighbor,'' she said. "I just think that things like that have got to change.''
District 44 includes all of Hernando County except for a swath of the county west of Brooksville, which is included in District 43, a district primarily composed of all of Citrus County.
"They carve out an area for a reason,'' Rowden said. "They carve people out from being represented.''
Schenck said that Hernando County is mostly in one district and using District 44 as an example of gerrymandering is "hilarious.''
"Maybe she doesn't understand the process,'' he said.
As for her living outside the district, Schenck said her move doesn't change his strategy as he campaigns for re-election.
"No matter where she lives, she's still going be raising our taxes and over-regulating our small businesses,'' Schenck said. "She is what she is. She likes higher taxes and bigger government.''
Rowden got in her own shot at her opponent. By changing her address on her driver's license, she said she didn't appreciate having to pay double for the service because of a bill passed in a recent session increasing the fee that was supported by Schenck.
Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434.