Brown-Waite Faces Familiar Challenger

Three-term Republican incumbent Ginny Brown-Waite will once again try to fend off outspoken Democrat John Russell, who has twice tried to snatch the 5th Congressional District seat away from her.

The district, which includes all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and portions of Lake, Levy, Pasco, Polk and Marion counties, has the second-highest number of veterans of any district in the country.

"I've worked so hard to meet veterans' needs," she said, noting her success in securing a new VA medical center in east Pasco County and expanding a veteran community clinic in Brooksville. If reelected, Brown-Waite says she would continue to work for the expansion of that facility.

Brown-Waite, 65, noted her efforts to help pass a national catastrophic insurance fund in the House. The plan bogged down in the Senate.

She helped pass an expansion of the GI bill to give new education benefits to all post-Sept. 11 veterans, including National Guard and Reserve members.

Brown-Waite has bucked President Bush on a few major issues, such as the proposal to allow for the investment of some Social Security benefits. She also voted against both bailout bills.

Russell, a 52-year-old acute care nurse practitioner from Dade City who got 40 percent of the vote in the 2006 general election against Brown-Waite, contends she has done little for the average American in the past six years.

The blame for the sorry state of the country, from the economic meltdown to the burgeoning number of uninsured Americans, should fall mainly on the GOP, he said.

"She's been asleep at the switch," Russell said. "I'm going to be the guy who has the knowledge, the motivation and the courage to ask the questions that need to be asked."

Russell favors a single-payer health "Medicare-for-all" plan that would allow patients to stick with private insurers if they wish to. He supports a 16-month timetable to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq. He also vows to push for a viable alternative energy plan to include government investment and incentive programs.

He criticizes what he described as the Republican fixation on building a border wall.

Instead, the government should give employers the opportunity to purge their ranks of illegal workers and crack down on those that do not, he said.

GINNY BROWN-WAITE

AGE: 65

EDUCATION: State University of New York's Empire State College, bachelor's degree; Russell Sage College, Troy, N.Y., master's degree in public administration; Cornell University, labor studies program certification.

FAMILY: Widowed, three grown children

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Former health care consultant; former Mr. Donut franchise owner; former adjunct professor for Springfield College, Tampa campus.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Hernando County Board of Commissioners, 1990-92; Florida Senate, 1992-2002; U.S. House, District 5, 2002-current.

WEB SITE: www.ginnyfor congress.com

JOHN RUSSELL

AGE: 52

EDUCATION: D'youville College School of Nursing, bachelor's degree; Niagara University and The State University of New York at Buffalo, master's degree in health systems management; University of South Florida, master's degree in nursing.

FAMILY: Engaged

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Nationally certified acute care nurse practitioner

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Two previous bids for District 5 seat.

WEB SITE: www.johnrussell forcongress.com