State House District 120: Incumbent James Mooney faces Key West attorney Adam Gentle
Incumbent Republican James “Jim” Mooney eked out a victory over Rhonda Rebman Lopez in the August primary for State House District 120, winning by just 90 votes.
Mooney, 71, is well-known in the Keys, which makes up most of the district, but Rebman Lopez won a decisive 1,444 votes to his 751 in the southern portion of Miami-Dade County, including Homestead. But, with his support in Monroe County — where he served twice as mayor of the Village of Islamorada — Mooney was able to pull out a narrow win.
He now faces Democratic challenger Adam Gentle, an attorney from Key West..
Mooney says his accomplishments during his first term in Tallahassee earned him a second go-around.
“In only my first term, I was able to bring the district some $80 million in appropriations,” Mooney said. “That money went towards the environment, infrastructure, housing, healthcare and education.”
Mooney lists his other accomplishments as: helping pass a bill that allows the Monroe County Land Authority to expedite grants and funding; a bill that permits the city of Key West and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to build 24 housing units for first responders, and a bill that establishes 100 mooring balls for boats off Key West and starts the process for installing additional mooring balls throughout county waters.
“This should help with derelict vessel issues as well as reduce seagrass damage from anchor chains,” Mooney said. “It also allows for a more stable workforce housing base for those that are live-aboards.”
He also laments some of the things he was unable to accomplish.
“I had a plastic bill that unfortunately never saw the light of day. While I knew it would be tough, I did expect at least a committee stop,” Mooney said. “While there are numerous moving parts, I really feel like there was little that actually surprised me as to the process of how things get done in Tallahassee.”
Gentle is an attorney who’s worked for law firm Baker McKenzie in Washington, D.C., as a compliance attorney for software development company Citrix, and who’s done pro bono work on cases focusing on juvenile sentencing reform, the elderly and LGBTQ+ clients.
He said as an attorney, he’s investigated “anti-corruption” cases involving “bribery, kick-backs in corporations that do business with governments.”
The 41-year-old George Washington Law School graduate has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2020 with no disciplinary history and an active member in good standing with the Bar Association of Washington, D.C., since 2017. Since filing to run for office earlier this year, he said he is “a full-time candidate.”
In the primary, he defeated Daniel Horton-Diaz, also an attorney, 5,393 to 4,302 votes. Gentle’s campaign has raised close to $97,000 since January, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
Gentle lives with his husband Matheus in Key West. He has the endorsement of the LGTBQ Victory Fund, and if he wins, he would be the eighth openly gay lawmaker to serve in the Legislature, and the fourth currently serving, Florida Politics reported in March.
Gentle told the Herald protecting LGBTQ+ rights is part of why he decided to seek state office.
“In my lifetime, we have secured rights and freedoms that have allowed me to enjoy the life I have today,” he said. “Within the past couple of years, our democracy, our rights and our freedoms have come under assault. It is time to stand up for what I believe is right and just.”
Both candidates say workforce housing in the tourism-dependent Keys is a top issue. In Monroe County, the median value of a home is around $558,110, while median household income is around $70,000, according to the latest Census data.
The cost of living is even higher in Key West, leaving many workers scrambling for a place to live and businesses desperate for reliable employees.
“In our district, it is quickly becoming impossible for many to live and work,” Gentle said. “This is unacceptable.”
Mooney, who’s raised $281,520 since January 2021, has lived in the Keys for 60 years and is a “fifth-generation Floridian.” He has two adult children and two granddaughters and is engaged to be married.
He said he wants another term to address issues like extending the deadline for new building permits in the Keys. A stipulation of a 1970s state mandate says no new building permits shall be issued after 2023. This was aimed at controlling development in the environmentally sensitive island chain and ensuring timely evacuation of tourists and residents in the path of hurricanes.
With issues like housing and insurance in the Keys, urban sprawl on the mainland that he says is infringing on farmlands to the west and maintaining essential fresh water heading into Florida Bay, Mooney said District 120 has unique concerns that are difficult to articulate in Tallahassee. He feels he’s more up to the task than Gentle.
“I feel I have the knowledge, insight and ability to understand a broad range of issues that House District 120 faces. As you know, the district is very much a two-part setting. The Keys issues are vastly different for the mainland portion,” Mooney said. “Having been a councilman and two-time mayor in Islamorada, I have the experience of working with the county leadership and staff as well as all other municipalities on the issues.”
Asked where he thinks Mooney fell short during his first term, Gentle said: “Lack of attention to large portions of the district, attacking women’s right to reproductive health, and failing to recognize the kitchen table issues in his own backyard.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 12:57 PM.
