Florida House, District 49

Anzalone: Polk County families are being squeezed on every front everyday. I am a constituent here, our top three priorities are affordable housing and insurance, because the cost of living is pushing families out of their own communities; public education and teacher pay, because our schools are underfunded and our teachers are undervalued; and community safety and mental health resources, because every resident deserves to feel protected and supported regardless of who they are or where they come from.

Anzalone: I’m running because I’m done waiting for “just give us more time.” Florida families have heard that promise for years while housing costs skyrocket, schools go underfunded, and communities feel invisible to Tallahassee. Real change doesn’t happen by waiting. It happens when someone decides to stop asking permission and start fighting. That’s why I’m running. Not someday. Now.

Anzalone: Local governments know their communities and residents better than Tallahassee ever will. I will fight to repeal preemption laws that strip cities and counties of the ability to make decisions on local issues, from environmental protections to nondiscrimination ordinances. When the state overrides a community’s democratic choices simply because they disagree politically, that’s not governance, that’s control. I will oppose every preemption bill that silences local voices.

Anzalone: Florida’s natural beauty and rural lands are disappearing at an alarming rate because developers move faster than regulations can catch up. The legislature must restore meaningful environmental oversight, strengthen wetlands and wildlife habitat protections, repeal anti-environmental preemption laws that block local conservation efforts, and require genuine community input before approving large scale developments. Growth should serve the people who live here, not developers or data centers.

Anzalone: I would push to end the legislative practice of diverting public school dollars to unaccountable charter and voucher programs, advocate for a funding formula that addresses disparities between counties, and fight for full the restoration of federal education grants currently at risk. Poll County’s kids are not a lower priority than any other county in Florida, and I will make sure Tallahassee starts governing like it.