Challenger takes on House seat over fracking

Members of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce welcomed State House candidate Charlie Messina last week at an event where he promised to protect Lee County from fracking if elected.

“I just met Charlie Messina Thursday night,” said chamber member Amy Gillette, owner of the Tuckaway Cafe. “(I'm) very glad to see someone who is concerned about the water.”

In contrast, GOP incumbent Ray Rodrigues received an ice-cold reception at a Chamber luncheon weeks ago for his attempts to allow fracking under statewide regulation. Fracking is the controversial oil extraction method that environmentalists believe will endanger Florida's drinking water.

“We invited Mr. Rodrigues to a luncheon, and he came under fire,” said Bud Nocera, president of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce. “There were some hard questions asked of him about his policies and his activities relating to water quality.”

Election 2016: Profiles of Southwest Florida candidates

Rodrigues did not attend the recent mixer with Messina.

Cheers toward no-party affiliated Messina and jeers for Republican Rodrigues show that arguments over the proposed fracking regulation earlier this year are still fresh. But, supporters of Rodrigues say his careful approach is respected among people who work with the Legislature.

“Ray will listen to your opinion on an issue but he will never respond right away,” Tallahassee lobbyist Joel Overton said. “He’ll research your opinion and then come up with an answer, which we appreciate because not all members do that.”

Rodrigues launched a plan during this year's session to stop fracking in Florida until the state Department of Environmental Protection performed a $1 million study. The plan, which died in the Senate, would have also created statewide regulation and stripped restrictions that were passed by municipalities and counties. Roughly 80 local governments passed fracking bans in protest, including Estero, where Rodrigues lives.

The bill was not Rodrigues' first attempt. He tried to pass a fracking bill in 2015 but it died with an abrupt early end to the legislative session due to an argument over a proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

Rodrigues, 44, still believes in fracking regulation, but he has no immediate plans to re-file the bill, if re-elected. Messina, 57, has spent the months leading up to the Nov. 8 matchup against Rodrigues making promises to banish fracking from the state.

“I’m not the wildlife, tree-hugger type – I like to keep business going,” Messina said. “But when you have that many people saying no to fracking and you’re still trying to do it, that’s not the will of the people.”

Rodrigues, who is also the business manager for the Florida Gulf Coast University School of Arts and Sciences, said Messina has not actually read the bill or the current state law.

“Fracking, right now, is legal and it can be done without a permit,” Rodrigues said. “We shouldn’t have fracking in this state until we have a moratorium and a study so we know how it’s impacting our environment.”

Additionally, Messina said he would also propose changes to campaign finance law so state lawmakers cannot amass vast campaign spending accounts. He pointed to Rodrigues, who has amassed $219,900 in donations to his campaign and to a political action committee that he chairs.

Meanwhile, Messina has collected $1,991 in donations, including $300 he loaned himself.

“What I want to know is why you need all that money anyway?” Messina said.

In response, Rodrigues said, “Candidates who complain about raising money are the ones who are having trouble raising it.”

Rodrigues was one of three lawmakers who put forth a bipartisan effort to get an amendment on the August primary ballot that provided 20-year tax breaks on equipment used to generate solar energy. The amendment passed with 73 percent of the vote.

"I will continue to fight for tax breaks to make solar energy more available," Rodrigues said.

Messina, a retiree, lost to Rodrigues in 2014 under his official Democrat party affiliation. Rodrigues earned 41,532 votes, or 68 percent, and Messina earned 6,515 votes, or 32 percent, according to Lee County elections data.

Messina figured running without a party this year will help muster more votes in the deep red Lee County.

“You can’t win in this county as a Democrat,” said Messina, a Wolcott, Connecticut, native.

Messina graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He worked in Oklahoma as a process server, delivering legal papers for a local personal injury firm.

Messina spent time as a private investigator, opening his own security video surveillance firm in 1996. He and his wife divorced in 2001 and he moved to Lee County where he became a real estate agent and mortgage broker.

“I wanted the white sand, the beaches, just relax,” said Messina, who has a 36-year-old daughter, Stephanie Messina, of Massachusetts.

Messina arrived in Florida and received licenses to sell real estate and mortgages. He issued home loans on behalf of the U.S. Small Business Administration in the wake of Hurricane Charley in 2004. He later filed for bankruptcy in 2009 after accumulating $107,251 in credit card debt, according to federal court records.

“It was a business decision, what can I say?” Messina said, who considers himself as semi-retired.

Messina also nearly lost his own home in 2013 in the Pine Island community of St. James City. He lives on the northern boundary of House District 76, which stretches along the Gulf Coast to Bonita Springs to the south and Hendry County to the east.

Rodrigues' home in Estero is in the northeast corner of District 76. He and his wife, Ruth, have a 14-year-old son, Rhett, who has cerebral palsy.

“Having a son with special needs definitely opened my eyes to things I didn’t see before,” Rodrigues said. “Communication for Rhett is his challenge, and you have to work to figure out what he needs.”

Rodrigues was born in Pensacola and he grew up in Brunswick, Georgia, where his dad worked for a wood pulp mill. He attended Berry College -- a private Christian school -- in Rome, Georgia, where he met his wife in his senior year. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and moved to Fort Myers to be closer to his wife’s family in Plant City.

Rodrigues’ father had immigrated to the U.S. from Portugal as a shrimper, and he handcrafted a model shrimp boat, which Rodrigues keeps on his desk in his office suite at the state Capitol.

“It’s a reminder of how hard my dad worked, and it’s a reminder that hard work is necessary to accomplish anything,” Rodrigues said. “Once you’ve done the hard work you can quite often see the tangible results of it.”

Rodrigues shared the Capitol suite with state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. Gaetz was the chairman of the House Finance and Tax Committee, and Rodrigues was his vice chairman.

“Most members have awards in their offices like ‘Legislator of the Year,’ but the only thing Ray had was that boat from his dad and a picture of his son,” said Gaetz, who was elected in the August primary to represent Congressional District 1. “Imagine someone like that, with his patience, making decisions for the people of Florida.”

As of Oct. 14, Rodrigues had raised $155,900 for his campaign, and he spent $106,532. His PAC, Free Markets for Florida, has raised $64,000 and spent $32,877, state campaign finance records show.

Rodrigues’ campaign account includes $2,000 in contributions from companies like U.S. Sugar, which is a target of environmentalists who believe the company pollutes Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River. The campaign also took $1,000 donations each from Chevron and Marathon oil companies. At least 20 percent of Rodrigues’ campaign donations are from out of state, and 34 percent are from lobbyists and associations in Tallahassee.

Rodrigues said he only accepts donations from companies that are aligned with his morals.

“If I believe in their business practices – with their morals – I will accept the donation,” he said.

Rodrigues first won his House seat after a 2012 August primary. He was defeated in 2004 by incumbent Sharon L. Harrington for Lee County Supervisor of Elections. He also lost a 2008 bid for the Lee County School Board District 3 seat against Jane Kuckel, county election records show.