Rep. Keith Truenow vies for state Senate, cites ‘track experience’

TAVARES, Fla. – Florida Rep. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, pitched “track experience” as a case for his jump from the state House to Senate in an interview on Florida’s Voice with Brendon Leslie.

“A lot of things happen in the house, it’s caused me to take a pause and look at the Senate opportunity,” Truenow said. “I think it’s a great one.”

House District 26, represented by Truenow, covers parts of Lake County. He intends to succeed Dennis Baxley, who serves Florida’s District 13 in the Senate.

Truenow expressed being a proponent of agricultural issues as a reason for taking the leap.

“You know, in the Florida Legislature, we don’t have a lot of agricultural base folks here to talk about ag issues and, you know, preserve the wildlife,” Truenow said. “So, moving to the Senate, I will be the second agricultural producer in the Senate, along with the President Ben Allbritton.”

A part of his future goals, Truenow cited preserving Florida’s wildlife corridor, conservation of lands, and the rule lands and families initiative. He also highlighted his three years of experience on agricultural issues as a “biggest strength.”

He also explained Florida’s agricultural importance as a “vibrant” part to the state.

Previously, Truenow helped pass legislation banning China from buying farmland in the state. The initiative was spearheaded by Florida Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

“Well, I think it’s it’s vital to food security in the state of Florida and in America,” Truenow said. “I think that we need to make sure that we can produce and sustain what we need to feed our own people without any outside pressure.”

As a member of the House, Truenow sponsored HB 505. The bill, if passed, would authorize county tax collectors to budget for and pay hiring and retention bonuses to employees.

“We started this bill last year and we were trying to look at the formula and how we pay employees in the tax collectors realm and other state agencies as well,” Truenow said. “Then create incentives for those people through adoption of children and in different things that would would help the employee in these hard economic times.”