Sam Greco launches campaign for House District 19 seat as Speaker Renner terms out

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Sam Greco announced his campaign Friday to take over the Florida House District 19 seat, which is currently occupied by House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast.

Greco is a “lifelong” conservative and told Florida’s Voice he brings a “unique” background to the race due to his military background and experience in law.

He served as an active duty judge advocate general in the U.S. Navy from 2019-2024, most recently at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, and transitioned to the Navy Reserves.

“I wanted to serve my country in the Navy,” Greco said. “Now I want to serve my community here by being the representative to the State House from District 19 and doing everything I can to help Flagler and St. Johns County by delivering for the district and making sure that we are keeping Florida free.”

Greco said there are a lot of people who want “nothing more than to see Florida turn into the next California” and he said he will “never allow that to happen.”

“If I’m elected to the State House, I will fight every day to make sure that we keep Florida free and that we keep this the best place,” he said.

Greco said Florida, and “more specifically” Flager and St. Johns Counties, are the “best places” to buy a home, raise a family or start a business, which he said is due to bringing “conservative principles to life and seeing the great benefit that happens when you do that.”

Greco said if elected, he would have “big shoes to fill” in taking over Renner’s seat, who is leaving the seat at the end of his current term.

“[Renner] has done an excellent job fostering a fantastic conservative agenda, a pro-business agenda, pro-family agenda […]  It would be my goal to make sure that Flagler and St. Johns are receiving just as much support as they have been from the legislature over the past several years, and that we continue to keep the ball moving forward on a state level towards prosperity and freedom,” Greco said.

The candidate said if elected, his top three priorities include property insurance, infrastructure and keeping the state “protected from some of the really awful national policies that we see going on.”

“We have to live, unfortunately, with the terrible policies that we’re seeing come from Joe Biden and Democrats in Washington,” Greco said.

He pointed to inflation and said on a local level and in Tallahassee, there is a “need” to aim to keep costs low for Florida families.

Greco said Florida residents are “lucky” to live in a state with no income tax. He said legislators “need to look” at how they can return money to families in other taxes or rebates and keep the cost of utilities down as well as insurance.

“So that while families are being hit with inflation from Washington, we’re doing everything we can on a state level to make sure that they are able to make ends meet and provide what they need,” he said.

Greco explained that there is a “need” to bring the cost of property insurance down, particularly in District 19, as it is a coastal district.

He pointed to ways of bringing the cost of property insurance down including to bring more private insurers back into the market, as he said a lot of insurers have been “scared out of the market.”

For infrastructure, Greco said his district area’s population is growing fast and it’s important to make sure the infrastructure “can keep up with it” when it comes to roads, sewer systems, freshwater and schools.

Greco pointed to the “terrible situation” going on at the U.S. Southern border where there’s an “unchecked flow of drugs and contraband coming over.”

Greco said he understands law and order and how to combat crime, since he served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Navy.

“We need to make sure that we’re keeping our families safe, our children safe, our streets safe,” Greco said. “And if they’re not going to do it in Washington, then it’s going to fall to the states to make sure that we’re doing it here.”

The primary election is Aug. 20. If Greco wins the primary, he will become the Republican nominee and face the Democrat opponent in the Nov. 5 general election.

So far, the other candidates in the race for the House District 19 seat include Republicans Darryl Boyer, Matthew Kent Nellans, James St. George, and Democrat Thomas Adam Morely.