Incumbent Sen. Geraldine Thompson announced Thursday, she has received the endorsement of the Florida Medical Association PAC (FMA PAC), in her bid for re-election to Florida Senate District 12.
“The Florida Medical Association is proud to support Senator Geraldine Thompson in her re-election campaign,” said Dr. Ralph Nobo, President of the FMA PAC. “She has made health care a priority, and we look forward to working with her on solutions to improve access to health care in Florida.”
Reacting to FMA PAC’s endorsement, Thompson said in a statement:
“Florida’s doctors are on the front lines of providing quality health care to Florida’s residents and visitors. I support their work and am pleased to have their support of my continued work in the Florida Senate.”
Thompson has campaigned on boosting health care for Floridians and getting the $51 billion in federal monies from the Obama Administration to expand Medicaid. Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP-led Legislature, so far, have refused to accept the grant resources which will benefit close to 1 million Floridians.
Thompson will face off against former Sen. Gary Siplin in a Democratic primary election on August 26.
In a recent interview with West Orlando News Online, she called out the long serving Siplin, termed out in 2012, but who had his wife Victoria Siplin run and lose to Thompson that year.
“Mr. Siplin was there for 10 years and was termed out. Now, in an effort to keep the seat, his wife contested the race in 2012. But that didn’t fool the voters,” Thompson said of Siplin, whom she described as self-serving. “They knew that it was really Gary Siplin who was running though Victoria’s name was on the ballot. They figured out that a vote for Victoria was really a vote for Gary and the voters said no. I think that people are smarter than he has given them credit for.”
“So, the citizens of the State of Florida voted for term limits because it gives other people an opportunity to be involved. New people in the Legislature bring fresh ideas, new energy and that’s a good thing. When the same individual is perpetually in the Legislature, you get a kind of stale approach to government and governing,” she added.
According to the latest campaign finance reports, Thompson has amassed close to $123,000 in campaign donations, more than 7 times the nearly $17,000 Siplin had raised, up to June 20, 2014.
