Why You Should Vote For Me (in 1 to 3 Minutes)

Protecting Our Environment and Our Economy

Without these beaches, we have no tourism, we have no economy, and we have no business. So we have to protect this. And we have to elect people who will protect it. It's that simple.

Money buys a lot of things, but it doesn't buy votes

Do they have more money than we do? Sure. They have a lot of mailers, but they don't have any ideas. When the ideas are exposed, the money doesn't matter. The truth is, people are paying attention. And Sarasota is full of very intelligent people.

Florida Forever vs "Florida for Sale"

They have looted this program since it's inception. They have refused to follow the will of the voters. And everyone should be raising hell. Because there's no other reason for doing that other than saying, "Florida is for sale." There are so many places in Florida that are in danger simply of being paved over and another zero-lot line condominium going up on it. We don't want that. We don't want to live in the middle of a zero-lot-line sprawl, and the citizens have made this very clear. The legislature was given a very direct instruction to appropriate enough money to make that happen and they're not. And the reason why is because their republican developer donors view it as a threat to land acquisition. And frankly, they resent not being able to come in and build and pave wherever they want to.

Dealing with Developers - Motivate with Money

"They're not evil, they're just greedy." Their motivation is money, so that's what we need to use. We have to be savvy. If it's "reverse bribery", then it is. I don't care. It's ideology for us, not them. It's just cash. That's their religion, you're never going to change it. So we have to work with it.

Healthcare, Medicaid Expansion, and Insurance Industry Lobbyists

The legislature has a responsibility to do everything they can to provide expanded health care, at least basic healthcare, to people who most desperately need it. We need to stop pretending that there aren't insurance industry lobbyists that are preventing that from happening. That's just something that is a non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned. The responsibility is too great on the part of the state.

My View on the 2nd Amendment as a Law-Abiding Gun Owner

I will never be a hypocrite on this issue.

Supporting Our Small Businesses and Restarting Our Economy During COVID

"No one is coming to Florida to go to Siesta Key unless they feel safe." Business owners don't want to be cops. Leadership at the state level and practical guidance during COVID is the only way to keep an even playing field for our small business community and is the fastest way to reopen the economy. It's time to stop rejecting science and politicizing it. We need to do whatever we have to do to stand with our friends in the business community.

The "Toll-Road" to Nowhere and Who It's Really Serving

How is it "limited government" to spend billions of dollars on a toll road that isn't going to serve anyone other than the people who have secured the concrete and asphalt contracts? Environmentally, it will be a disaster. What you're really doing is putting an enormous asphalt raised bed fence, a barrier, that will cut into most of the habitats and impact clean water. Every environmental group I've spoken with agrees with that. I don't know what promises have been made to lobbyists, but if it doesn't make sense to us, you can pretty much guarantee that there's a reason - there's been a deal that's been made - and that's exactly what we need to stop up in Tallahassee.

Red Tide, Our Environment, Clean Water, And Our Way Of Life

Red Tide specifically is why I decided to run. I saw what everyone else who has been here longer than 18 months remembers- the smell, the flies- It was like something out of an apocalypse. If the beaches go away, if Siesta Key goes away or becomes a place that people don't want to go, they just will go somewhere else and that's it. Once something is ruined or polluted, once a reputation is made that an area doesn't care about its environment, we're done. Our waters are the single economic engine that drive our entire way of life and it has to be protected.

Public Education vs For-Profit Charter Schools

We have to be very aware that there are members of the republican legislature who sit on the board of directors of for-profit educational schools, that use our tax dollars (money they take out of your pocket) to fund their business endeavors. So there are massive conflicts of interest that are going on in the legislature right now, and that's not a secret. Believe it or not, I believe in charter schools. If a group of people want to get together and they want to run a non-profit charter school to address the needs specifically of their children, I'm generally in favor of them. I am absolutely not in favor of for-profit charter schools. I do not think that public education should be sacrificed for charter schools and I think charter schools need to have qualified teachers who are professionals, not just volunteers. We need to make sure that we have the same educational standards, the same constitutional rights, and students have to be protected on gender, religion, etc. if they're going to take any public funding.

How I'll Make a Difference in the Legislature

We have to raise hell, that is our job. If that means that we have to shame our own leadership into doing that, then so be it. But things are not like they were 30-40 years ago. If we get shut out, even by our own leadership, we can get on YouTube and talk about it. We can call them out on it. And that goes for everyone.

Healthcare, Medicaid Expansion, and Insurance Industry Lobbyists - Part 2

The bottom line is that millions of Americans now are out of a job, 19,000 of them in this district and they don't have health insurance. God forbid they get sick. This is just such a basic decent part of government that I can't imagine anyone actually being opposed to this, particularly in the time of a pandemic. If you're wondering why on earth would the republican party make war on healthcare, the answer is that the health insurance companies are huge donors. Private hospitals, big pharma, that is at the root of the republican war on Obamacare. This is why you should vote. You're sending people in who are looking at your life, they're looking at your health and your children's health, and they're making decisions based on who's giving them donations, and that's the truth. It's not about ideology, it's simply about that.

Drake Buckman for Florida State Rep, District 72 Florida State House District 72

Meet Drake

As a Sarasota resident of three decades, Drake and his wife and partner Amiee have made lifelong friends, grown their family, built their law practice, paid their taxes, and known they’ve lived in the best community in the world – Sarasota’s District 72.

It is in this district where Drake and Amiee started their law firm with seventy dollars in a rented conference room and where they raised their three children, all of whom graduated from Riverview High School (Go Rams!). Two of his children and a son-in-law have followed in Drake’s footsteps and joined the firm, making it a true family business. Their firm is located in the heart of District 72, right across the street from Phillippi Mansion – where Drake and Amiee exchanged their vows years ago on the banks of the beautiful, but now polluted Phillippi Creek.

On July 26, 2019, the day Drake filed his candidacy paperwork, they welcomed their first grandchild and fourth member of the family to have been born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Why Am I Running?

The basic duty of government is to respect and protect the rights and future of the individual citizen.

I've made a career out of standing up to governments and large corporations based on that principle. While serving on local neighborhood associations, I've witnessed the high price that many neighborhoods have paid for neglectful government. The same is true for us here in House District 72.

I know this district because I've lived here for decades. My friends live here and span neighborhoods North to South from The Oaks and Vamo, to Gulf Gate, Siesta Key, Arlington Park and The Meadows. Much like our district, my friends come from many different backgrounds. They are Democrats, Republicans, Independents and people who have given up on the system entirely. I share my table with those who practice many faiths and those with none at all.

Like many of you, I've had my throat burned by Red Tide, been frustrated by the traffic congestion, worried about the water flowing from my kitchen faucet and watched as the best school system in Florida has been undermined by for-profit education companies and special interests.

And like many of you, I am dismayed at the recent lack of civility and compromise in government, replaced instead by suspicion and division. The outcome is gridlock and a disservice to us all.

When elected, I will have only one analysis: Will this decision make my neighbors’ lives better, or worse?

I will work with my colleagues, regardless of party affiliation, to protect our district's interests, environment and economy and ensure that all of our voices are heard. I firmly believe that there is far more that unites us than divides us, both as human beings and as a community, and it is with that principle that I intend to lead District 72.

-Drake

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