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Joanne Terry
Joanne Terry (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 31. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Terry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joanne Terry was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from the California State University, Northridge, in 1987. Her career experience includes working as a chief systems engineer for satellite programs. Terry has been affiliated with Mensa and the League of Women Voters of the Space Coast.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 31
Incumbent Tyler Sirois defeated Joanne Terry in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 31 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tyler Sirois (R) | 63.7 | 64,480 |
 | Joanne Terry (D)  | 36.3 | 36,769 | |
| Total votes: 101,249 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Joanne Terry advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 31.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Marina Vitale (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Tyler Sirois advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 31.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Terry in this election.
Pledges
Terry signed the following pledges.
2022
See also: Florida's 8th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Florida District 8
Incumbent Bill Posey defeated Joanne Terry in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 8 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bill Posey (R) | 64.9 | 222,128 |
| Joanne Terry (D) | 35.1 | 120,080 | |
| Total votes: 342,208 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 8
Joanne Terry defeated Danelle Dodge in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 8 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joanne Terry | 54.6 | 29,542 |
 | Danelle Dodge | 45.4 | 24,592 | |
| Total votes: 54,134 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Perry Gregg (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Bill Posey advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 8.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Patrick Wells (R)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joanne Terry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Terry's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was raised by a single mother from the age of 10. She was a secretary at a large aerospace corporation, and I learned the challenges of making ends meet and the impact government policy can have on the lives of working families. Thanks to good public education and affordable college, I had a successful 27-year career as a Satellite Systems Engineer in the defense industry, leading large teams to solve complex problems. I am retired from engineering and have spent the last four years involved in various political organizations in Brevard County.
Like many people in my district, I am very concerned about the extreme legislation being passed in Florida, including the 6-week abortion ban and being able to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or any training. Florida is getting national attention for culture war issues while Floridians face increasing property insurance rates every year, driving up the cost of living here.
My policy positions are focused on real solutions to the issues we face every day, not the divisive culture wars. My priority will be on the people and communities of my district first, including the small businesses. I believe that when people and communities thrive, then all businesses thrive, not the other way around.- It’s time to re-imagine Florida’s property insurance approach. Numerous bills have passed in the Florida legislature focusing on making it more profitable for insurance companies to operate in FL, yet rates continue to increase. Homeowners who have a mortgage, like my family, are required to maintain insurance coverage. The insurance industry has us at their mercy. We need innovative solutions to address insurance & rebuilding after natural disasters. I will work with insurance companies, financial institutions, local governments & businesses to define alternate solutions. When property owners have a choice of options that include, but are not limited to, traditional insurance, then real competition can begin to reduce rates.
- We must protect our local natural environment from overdevelopment. We need to return the power to local counties and municipalities to control their own zoning and development to ensure that floodplains and wetlands aren’t compromised and that our coastal communities are not turned into cement jungles, overtaxing our infrastructure. Irresponsible development that increases flooding risks contributes to our current property insurance crisis in Florida. It also lowers our property values over time and drives away the workforce that our businesses and corporations depend on. I believe we can continue to develop, in the right places and in the right ways, to protect our natural environment while meeting economic growth objectives.
- We must ensure our economy works for all of us. The widening wealth gap threatens the stability of our free-enterprise backbone that has made us the strongest economy in the world. Traditional economic indicators tell us we have the strongest economy in over 50 years. Yet, working people, families, and older adults on fixed incomes are struggling to get by. Investing in our people should not be partisan. Investing in people to ensure they have access to childcare, quality education, healthcare, & affordable housing enables Floridians to be economically independent. When people are economically independent, they contribute to government revenue instead of needing government assistance programs.
As a Chief Systems Engineer, I had to learn everything I could about each new project. I led large teams of engineers, sometimes from competing contractors, to come up with the best solutions to challenging problems. I always led with the philosophy that if one of us looked bad, we all looked bad and when we succeeded, we all looked good to the customer. We had to actively foresee the consequences of our decisions because once a satellite is launched, there’s no way to fix problems.
I have lived in very different conditions over the course of my life. From lower income apartment buildings with my single mom to waterfront property on the Indian River Lagoon. The opportunity for me to go from living in a paycheck-to-paycheck household to being financially independent is what makes America great and makes me proud to be an American. I believe every American has the right to this opportunity and I am committed to ensuring people have access to the tools that makes this possible including housing security, food security, public education, access to healthcare and the ability to pay your bills when you work a steady job.
Currently, Florida is out of balance. The GOP legislature has voted to allow the governor to be exempt from state constitution laws and to allow him to use public money to fund political stunts to enhance his personal political ambitions. The governor has also vetoed unanimous bi-partisan legislation, including the Safe Waterways Act, without the threat of a veto override because the GOP super-majority in the legislature has not constrained his power, even when they know it’s in the best interests of the people of their district.
Last summer, I was unable to walk my local beach route because a storm surge had brought the water up to the dunes and, in some places, close to the cement foundations of beachfront condos. Yet, more beachfront development is planned. Residents keep fighting to prevent more development on the barrier islands in my district, yet zoning changes and permits for more development continue to be approved.
We must ensure that we are developing responsibly. We must ensure that we have adequate infrastructure that keeps our waterways and drinking water clean. We must ensure we have adequate roads and bridges to mitigate increased traffic and that we have adequate hurricane evacuation capacity from the barrier islands. New development must be limited to areas that won’t impact natural flood protection.
The unnecessary insurance requirement was due to a recent FL GOP law. So, they were hit with an unexpected $3.5k expense to a private for-profit insurance company that had to be paid in full before Citizens would renew. Requiring homeowners to spend thousands of dollars in unnecessary insurance is not the way to solve the insurance crisis.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Joanne Terry completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Terry's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- We must restore decency, civility, and integrity to politics. Our deepening political divide is keeping us from making real progress on the issues that affect our everyday lives, it’s destroying social relationships and threatening our democracy. We must bridge our divides, remember that we all want the best for our community, state and country and work through our differences with the civility and integrity of a functioning democracy.
- We must ensure our economy works for all of us. The widening wealth gap threatens the stability of our free-enterprise backbone that has made us the strongest economy in the world. Investing in our people should not be partisan. Ensuring there is access to childcare, quality education, healthcare, affordable housing, and affordable college so every family can be economically independent reduces the need for government assistance programs, strengthens the consumer base our independent businesses rely on, and ensures the pursuit of prosperity and happiness can be realized for all our citizens. I will work for the right balance between our public and private sectors to ensure we have an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economy.
- We must address climate change. The increase in extreme weather and associated devastation over the last few years is undeniable. Tropical storms are forming earlier in the year. More flooding and widespread damage is driving up our property insurance rates. We must continue the transition to renewable energy. This transition provides economic opportunity for our high-tech companies and workforce and mitigates climate change. I support government investment and public-private partnerships for research, development, and industry transition of new technologies that protect our communities from further climate change, while providing new opportunities for economic growth. We must keep drilling out of Florida's inland and coastal waters.
My mission is to return representation to all the people in my district, not just the extremist faction. We can heal our divide by learning to work together again on issues that are of concern to all of us, regardless of political affiliation. We all want clean water, a functioning infrastructure, a safe environment, access to education, healthcare, affordable housing, and programs to support full participation in the workforce. We all want economic growth that’s inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. This means putting in place proactive policies so that inflation doesn’t outpace wage growth, fixed incomes remain sufficient for economic independence, and a growing wealth gap doesn't cause an increase in poverty, crime, civil unrest, or the need for expensive social programs.
Big-money advertising and bad-faith actors constantly bombard us with information intended to divide us for political gain. These advertisements, commentary, rhetoric, and propaganda attempt to influence our vote by focusing us on emotion, name recognition and party loyalty instead of what we should be deciding on: positions, facts, voting records, and results. This only benefits the wealthy and connected. Representation in our government should be by and for the people, the majority of whom are not wealthy and connected.
With today’s technology, voters should have easy access to accurate, unbiased, and truthful information. This will enable voters to make decisions based on candidates’ positions, how their elected officials have performed, and the results it has produced in our everyday lives.
In this country, we have laws to protect our money from people who lie to us for financial gain. But lying to the public, or defaming a political opponent without evidence, to influence a vote is protected without repercussion. We should not value our money more than we value our vote.
When representatives propose legislation, it will naturally reflect the views of their districts. Only through compromise can legislation be modified to ensure it will not only benefit the majority of the people of the country but has agreement and buy-in from the majority of representatives, regardless of political party.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Terry's campaign website stated the following:
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We all want the same things: the freedom to be safe, healthy and prosperous and to live in an educated, growing and thriving community. The right balance between Government and Free-Enterprise enables us to achieve all of these. I will work to bring together the best ideas, from all sides, to promote the best policies for our district. I believe in people over politics. I believe we can work together again for the benefit of all of us. There is much work to be done….
Recent and threatened future actions of the partisan US Supreme Court has removed protection for basic Constitutional rights for women and the LGBTQ community. We must protect access to contraception, abortion healthcare services and the freedom to live and love as we choose. The government should not be in our bodies, our homes, or our bedrooms.
Brevard County, the largest county in District 8, has been in the news lately as having the 6th highest number of arrests in connection with the Jan 6th 2021 insurrection on our capitol. You don’t have to drive very far to see the signs of hate and the flags of profanity flying in the neighborhoods where our children play and go to school. Our local media has reported multiple threats against our elected officials, some even made by our elected officials. The voices of far-right extremism are loud, but I don’t believe they are the majority here in District 8. Our community needs a voice of hope that our democracy can still work for the benefit of the people and denounce the hate and violence that has seeped into our local politics. I will be that voice. I invite people of all political affiliations to meet me back in the middle of the spectrum, to focus on our local issues that we all agree need to be addressed and denounce the voices of hate and violence that seek to take over our community.
We must ensure that we have accessible, secure and fair elections determined by the will of the people, not by partisan legislatures. Our free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and have been a model in the fight for democracy in countries around the world. American democracy can only survive if we work together to ensure the government is working for the benefit of its citizens, not for the benefit of political power.
I am positive that the creators of our Constitution did not intend for the 2nd Amendment to be used to arm people who are going to kill innocent citizens of this country, including children, veterans, and the elderly. This is not about limiting 2nd Amendment Rights to responsible citizens; this is about saving lives. I believe that there must be federal gun safety legislation to ensure consistency between and across the states. We can only get this done if enough of us vote for representatives that will get this done. I will be one of those representatives.
Access to childcare, quality education, healthcare and affordable housing is necessary to promote economic independence for so many who have been left behind. Investing in people’s ability to work and take advantage of the opportunities our economy provides will reduce the need for social welfare programs and create self-sufficient tax paying citizens. The United States has the strongest economy in the world; we need to ensure it works for all of us.
If there is one thing that we all agree on, it’s that the Indian River Lagoon is in serious trouble! Brevard’s ½ cent sales tax is funding many restoration projects, but restoration efforts are not preventing the causes. Algae blooms and the disappearing wildlife threaten our local economy and public health. I will work to provide additional resources and incentive programs that make protecting our environment a win for our residents, developers, and corporations alike.
Our infrastructure is deteriorating due to decades of neglect. Last fall, Brevard County raised utility taxes to provide for the needed funds to address the deficiencies. Wastewater treatment plants have all too frequent spills and residential growth is taxing our outdated systems. There are still areas of Indian River County with no broadband internet access and there are communities that flood with every hard rain. There is much work to be done. When the infrastructure bill came up in Congress, not only did Bill Posey vote against it, but unlike Republican Representatives from across the country, he did not participate in defining any local projects. Even Ron DeSantis commented that Florida was shortchanged. We pay federal taxes, too. We should get our fair share of infrastructure investment that we badly need. I will represent our community in the planning of federal infrastructure investment.
The need to reform the current health insurance system is an area of agreement across the entire political spectrum. The United States pays more for worse outcomes than many other developed nations. Both parties have the same goals, but partisan politics continues to get in the way of bipartisan solutions. I will work with all political parties to bring together the best ideas from all sides to lower the cost of prescription drugs and insurance premiums, protect Medicare for seniors, protect coverage for pre-existing conditions and preventative care; and increase education, access, and benefits for healthy lifestyle choices.
Our district is on the front lines of the effects of climate change and we’re paying for it. Regardless of what each of us believes about climate change, the increase in extreme weather over the last few years is undeniable. Earlier tropical storms and more widespread damage is driving up our property insurance rates. More frequent storms are increasing flooding damage exacerbated by the filling in of our natural drainage ecosystem by unregulated development. We must continue the transition to clean, renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. We must not let private companies lease land to drill for oil in the Everglades or any waterway that connects to our Indian River Lagoon or off our beautiful coast. An oil spill in any of our waters is an unthinkable catastrophe. The move toward clean energy provides incredible economic opportunity for our high-tech companies and workforce. I will support government investment and public-private partnerships for research, development, and industry transition of new technologies that help protect our community from further climate change, while providing new opportunities for economic growth.
More than 25% of our district’s population is over the age of 65 and our median age is over 48. With fewer employers offering traditional pension plans, Social Security is a vital safety net for many of our seniors. Latest estimates indicate the trust funds that support the program will be depleted in just 13 years. I support passing the Secure 2100 Act which would help to ensure the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund for years to come, without added burdens to hard working tax payers.
My father was an Air Force pilot in the Korean War and later, a test pilot in the California desert. I feel the pride but can only imagine the courage it takes to protect our country and democracy around world. We must ensure our Veterans and their families are cared for during and after active service. I believe that the world’s best fighting force and its veterans deserve the world’s best health care. We must ensure that the unique needs of Veterans are addressed through research and services specifically addressing Veterans’ unique needs. We must ensure that we have pro-active programs available to all Veterans including mental health programs to reduce the veteran suicide rate. And we must ensure veterans are able to fully transition into civil society after active service through education, hiring incentives, and support services. No military family should struggle to pay their bills, put food on the table, or access health care, quality housing, childcare, or the workforce.
Our current tax system is unfair. When the CEO is paying a lower overall tax rate than his/her receptionist, there’s a problem. And for working families, a modest raise should not result in less money in a paycheck because of a tax bracket change. I recognize that corporate tax rates need to be competitive for job growth and economic success of our businesses; but when year over year record profits indicate that companies can afford to pay their fair share but aren’t, there’s a problem. I will work to make the tax codes less taxing on working families.[2] |
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| —Joanne Terry's campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Florida House of Representatives District 31 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 21, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Joanne Terry for Congress, “On the Issues,” accessed August 16, 2022
