Our picks in primaries for U.S. House 5 and 9

Voters in the 5th and 9th congressional districts have different challenges this election season.

District 5 voters will elect a successor to Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, who is retiring for health reasons after four terms. Two Republicans meet in the primary, and a Democrat awaits the winner in November.

District 9 voters will decide whether to re-elect Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who succeeded his father, Mike, in 2006. He has no opponent in the primary, but two Democrats are vying to challenge him in November.

District 5

This sprawling district covers all or part of eight counties north of Tampa, including Hernando and Pasco. Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent is clearly the superior candidate over Jason Sager of Brooksville, a former audio and video engineer for a now-defunct electronics retailer.

The winner of the Aug. 24 Republican primary will face Democrat Jim Piccillo of Land O' Lakes in the general election.

Make no mistake, Republicans were shortchanged in this race. Brown-Waite announced her decision to retire just before the qualifying deadline after secretly obtaining Nugent's commitment to run. Her ploy shut out the possible candidacies of accomplished Republicans, including state Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Public Service Commission chairwoman and former state Sen. Nancy Argenziano, who expected Brown-Waite to sail into a fifth term.

Serving his third term as Hernando's top cop, Nugent, 59, says he had intended to serve the remainder of his term and then retire, before Brown-Waite recruited him. He understands why people would be upset about the circumstances and, in hindsight, says he was naïve. Still, how the race started isn't sufficient reason for Republicans to reject Nugent.

Nugent's resume is impressive. He is a veteran of the Illinois Air National Guard, and his three sons are in the military, so he knows the importance of supporting the armed forces. After 12 years as a police officer in a Chicago suburb, he joined the Hernando Sheriff's Office in 1984 as a deputy and worked his way through the ranks. He was elected in 2000 and is in charge of nearly 400 employees and 290 sworn officers.

Nugent runs a solid operation and is a friend to taxpayers. He has cut spending, even returning $2 million in funds one budget year, and introduced accountability budget measures to the office. In addition, he has a reputation for working well with other government officials. All are ingredients for a good congressman.

If elected, Nugent would work to repeal the new health care law, saying it's too expensive and the government has no right to mandate that residents purchase insurance. He supports Arizona's immigration law and extending the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire. And he opposes any additional stimulus packages, asking, "How the heck are we paying for this?"

Sager, 36, a Navy veteran, has lived in Hernando County since 1982 but has never held political office. Strong in his convictions and a good speaker, he says he is a "founding father" of the current tea party movement but has a narrow interpretation of the Constitution that should concern voters.

For instance, Sager says no provision of the Constitution gives Congress the power to "tax people for transportation." Interstate highways for civilian travel are unconstitutional, he says, adding a "valid argument" exists that they can be built and used for military purposes. Voters have every right to wonder whether Sager would vote for a federal highway bill that contains money for district road projects - including interstate improvements.

Nugent has a strong record of public service and pledges he will not hesitate to buck party leadership, which is refreshing. "I don't do well being told to do certain things. We're going to do what the people of the district want me to do," he says.

The Tribune strongly recommends Richard "Rich" Nugent in the Republican Primary for the U.S. House, District 5.

District 9

This district covers parts of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties. Phil Hindahl, 47, is an assistant Pasco-Pinellas public defender in Dade City, and Anita de Palma, 73, is a retired concert pianist who has lived in Pinellas County since 1980. This is her second time running for the seat.

Neither candidate is especially impressive, and neither has held elected office.

De Palma's lobbying experience in Washington - she served four terms as Florida state director for the League of United Latin American Citizens - and her passion to help people are her strong points. During her interview with us, she became emotional when recounting how people stood in line waiting for food in a rural county after one of the hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004. That should not happen in the United States, she said, recalling how she battled the Federal Emergency Management Agency over its inadequate response.

She says her focus will be to reach out to the constituents. She promises to be accessible - something she says Bilirakis is not - and accountable. She holds out U.S. Rep. C. W. Bill Young as an example of how a congressman should run a district - a good model.

But De Palma doesn't offer any detailed ideas to lower the national deficit, other than to say the nation shouldn't spend more than "we've got," and her proposal to solve the immigration crisis is convoluted. It entails creating a system in which workers are awarded points for staying out of trouble, having proper documentation and returning to their homeland after seasonal work is finished. When they accumulate a certain number of points, they would be allowed to apply for residency.

Hindahl, who once ran for a judgeship in Indiana, is a well-spoken lawyer who, except for a short hiatus when he moved to Florida, has been practicing since 1987. He notes that he has seen the benefits of good laws and the results of bad laws. And Congress, he points out, makes laws, so his experience as an attorney would be beneficial to the district.

The Lutz resident opposes further drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and says the nation needs to develop cleaner, non-carbon-based energy supplies. He favors cap-and-trade legislation, pointing out, "The energy companies are in business to make money. This will force them to look at alternatives."

In addition, he says natural gas should be utilized more. The environmental consequences would be lower, he says, and tax incentives could be given to retrofit trucks to run on that energy source.

Hindahl says the health care law didn't go far enough; he advocates a single-payer system. And to reduce government spending, he suggests cutting the defense budget. The national debt must be cut, he says, pointing out the interest is about $1 trillion a year.

On immigration, Hindahl supports a form of amnesty with conditions. Provisional green cards would be awarded, but immigrants receiving them would have to learn English, maintain employment and pay taxes to qualify for an actual green card that would allow them to remain in the United States indefinitely. They also would be required to cooperate with officials to identify employees who violate the law in hiring illegal aliens - an interesting approach but problematic for those who need to keep their jobs.

De Palma is compassionate, but Hindahl has a better grasp of the many issues facing the country. He would be the Democrats' best choice to challenge Bilirakis.

The Tribune recommends Phil Hindahl in the Democratic Primary for U.S. House, District 9.

Tomorrow: Our endorsements in congressional districts 11 and 12.

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