The chairman of the board of trustees at Lake-Sumter State College may be running for the Congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent.
On Monday, Ginny Brown-Waite, who held the Congressional seat before being succeeded by Nugent, endorsed Kelly Rice, who is not yet a declared candidate.
Rice, of Webster, was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 to the Lake-Sumter State College Board of Trustees. He was reappointed to a second term on the board that runs through 2018. Rice has been a real estate broker with Century 21 Prime Property Resources Inc. since 2000 and has been the president of Rice Cattle Company since 1994.
Nugent announced earlier this year he would not be seeking re-election to Florida’s 11th Congressional District which includes Sumter, Marion Hernando and Citrus counties.
Should Rice enter the race, he would face the only declared candidate in the race, Justin Grabelle, who has worked for years for Nugent. Grabelle’s parents live in the Village of Amelia.
A third Republican might be joining Grabelle and Rice in the primary. U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, whose current District 10 seat includes Fruitland Park, faces an uphill challenge as the result of a a new congressional map certified by the Florida Supreme Court. There has been speculation that Webster would abandon his newly Democratic friendly district in favor of a run in District 11. Former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings has already announced her intention to run for the District 10 seat.
