Palm Coast Democrat to challenge Rep. Mica -- Nine-term Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica has additional company in his 2010 re-election bid

Daytona Beach News-Journal
July 08, 2009

Palm Coast Democrat to challenge Rep. Mica

Staff Report

Nine-term Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica has additional company in his 2010 reelection bid.

Palm Coast Democrat Heather Beaven, a Navy veteran and chief executive of an education foundation, entered the race this week. Beaven, 40, had campaign kickoff events scheduled Tuesday in Flagler County.

She listed education, job creation and treatment of military veterans as priorities.

"I really have spent the last 20 years in one, all three, or some combination of those categories," Beaven said on Tuesday.

The organization she leads -- Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida's Graduates -- works with about 5,000 children in the state, helping them "understand relevance between what they're learning and what they'll be doing after graduation," Beaven said.

The race for the congressional 7th District appears to be a crowded one. Also in it are Faye Armitage, a Fruit Cove Democrat who lost to Mica of Winter Park last fall; Peter Silva, a St. Augustine Democrat; and no-party-affiliated Stephen Bacon of DeBary.

The 7th District stretches from St. Johns to Seminole counties.