STATE REPRESENTATIVE WILLIE LOGAN 
ANNOUNCES ENTRY AS AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE
IN THE RACE FOR FLORIDA’S U.S. SENATE SEAT

TALLAHASSEE-- At a news conference today, State Representative Willie Logan announced that he is officially entering Florida’s U.S. Senate race to replace Senator Connie Mack, who is retiring. Logan, 42, who has served in the Florida House of Representatives since 1982 and represents the city of Opa-locka and Northwest Miami-Dade County, announced that he will run as an independent.

The Logan campaign kicked off the announcement today with a statewide fly-around, commencing in Tallahassee at 10:30 AM at the Florida Press Center. The campaign then traveled to Tampa for a 1:30 PM press conference at the Ray Theon Aircraft Services (Hanger 1), before ending the day in Miami with a 4:30 PM rally among supporters at the Opa-locka airport.

Logan has repeatedly stated that his political mission has always been to advance the interests of the people he represents. In his announcement speech, Logan said, "what I have learned in my years of public service has taught me to think independent." Logan cited the stranglehold that the two-party system, big money, partisan politics, and the Washington elite have over the concerns of average citizens as reasons he decided to run as an independent.

Although the decision to run as an independent was hard, Logan said it was the only one he could make with a clear conscience: "We will give Floridians for the first time a real choice for the U.S. Senate, a candidate who answers only to the people of Florida." Noting that the U.S. Senate currently does not include a single person elected outside the two party system or of African American or Hispanic descent, Logan said he is running to send a message about the state of our government and to "challenge the campaign system that requires a candidate to be a millionaire or spend like a millionaire in order to win." Logan said that when he is elected, he will bring the concerns of average citizens directly to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Prior to his election to the Florida House, Willie Logan was elected Mayor of Opa-locka at age 23, at the time the youngest mayor in the United States. In the Florida legislature, he consistently ranked as one of the Florida House’s most effective members. Following both the 1998 and 1999 sessions, Logan was ranked "most effective Democrat in the Legislature" and has been commended on his ability to work on a bipartisan basis to secure support for his constituents and issues affecting the entire state.

In 1980, Logan formed the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation, an organization that has built over 1,000 new units of affordable housing, rehabbed numerous residential and commercial units, and revitalized the business district of Northwest Miami-Dade. Logan has served as its president and chief executive since its founding.

The campaign will be chaired by former state Representative Mike Abrams, a name well known in Florida political circles. His Finance Committee will be chaired by Louis Wolfson. Sean Pittman, former regional director for Governor Lawton Chiles's and Lieutenant Governor Buddy McKay’s campaigns, will manage the Logan effort. For more background and information about the Logan for United States Senate campaign, visit the campaign website at: