Coast Guard retiree to run against incumbent for House District 61
By Steve Lee
Staff Writer
WESLEY CHAPEL — Democrat Elena McCullough scoffs at her underdog role and believes she has a legitimate chance to unseat State Rep. Will Weatherford in District 61.
“I’m not a career politician,” said McCullough, a 48-year-old housewife and mother who retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2004. “I’m a veteran and concerned citizen.”
McCullough announced her candidacy on Jan. 8. After canvassing for Democratic candidates in the past three presidential elections, she decided to run for public office and will challenge incumbent Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel).
“He’s well-known and we’re very different people,” said McCullough, who was born in the Dominican Republic and became a U.S. citizen at the age of 21. “Of course, I believe that I’m the better candidate. It’s just that nobody knows me.
“He knows a lot about Tallahassee, I don’t. I’m a concerned citizen that wants to go to Tallahassee to represent the people.”
McCullough’s campaign kickoff is scheduled for Jan. 16 at Wesley Chapel District Park. The event, which will include free hot dogs, sodas and desserts, begins at 2 p.m. The park is located at 7727 Boyette Road.
In December of 2008, McCullough formed Wesley Chapel Community 4 Change, a grassroots group that numbers more than 50 people. Members have helped East Pasco Habitat for Humanity, Sunrise of Pasco and Helping Hands Food Pantry at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel.
“I don’t have a campaign manager,” McCullough said. “I just have a group of friends who believe in me and that I’m doing the right thing.”
McCullough, who spent 24 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, said she plans to rely on her leadership as an officer in taking on Weatherford in the November election. Weatherford, who is in his second two-year term, ran unopposed in 2008.
“Just as many of my neighbors, I am mad about what our state legislature has been doing,” McCullough wrote in a press release announcing her candidacy. “Rather than focusing on keeping and creating jobs, state legislators have been catering to the wants of powerful special interests.”
A self-described “true fiscal conservative,” McCullough wrote that Weatherford voted to raise costs for auto tags, driver licenses and hunting and fishing licenses.
“These increases hurt the people in our area,” McCullough continued. “If elected to the state legislature, I will vote to repeal these unfair tax and fee hikes that representative Weatherford helped put in place.”
Weatherford, admittedly taken aback by McCullough’s references to him during her campaign announcement, nonetheless welcomes the challenge.
“The truth is, I’m very proud of my record and will continue to do a good job of representing the people,” Weatherford said. “I can’t prevent people from running against me. I think democracy is important and there’s nothing wrong with giving people a choice.”
The McCullough and Weatherford families are neighbors in Brookside, a community just east of Saddlebrook Resort. Asked about living so close to her opposition, McCullough responded, “It’s very ironic that we live in the same community.”
Weatherford recalled complying with McCullough’s request for two tickets to President Obama’s inauguration last January.
“I’m very grateful,” McCullough said. “He gave me and my daughter an experience of a lifetime.”
McCullough, who is married to Ray McCullough, has a son and a daughter. Carlos Sanchez, 22, is a 2006 Wesley Chapel High graduate who attends Florida International University in Miami. Corina McCullough, 12, is a seventh-grader at Weightman Middle.
