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Tracey Kagan
Tracey Kagan (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 29. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Kagan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kagan's professional experience includes owning a law practice in Orlando, Florida. She was a public defender in New York for nine years. Kagan earned an associate degree from Stony Brook University in 1984 and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1991. Kagan has been affiliated with Moms Demand Action.
Elections
2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 29
Incumbent Scott Plakon defeated Tracey Kagan and Juan Rodriguez in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 29 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Scott Plakon (R) | 50.5 | 48,411 |
 | Tracey Kagan (D)  | 46.6 | 44,619 | |
 | Juan Rodriguez (No Party Affiliation) | 2.9 | 2,760 | |
| Total votes: 95,790 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tracey Kagan advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29
Incumbent Scott Plakon defeated Luther Dowe in the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29 on August 18, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Plakon | 82.0 | 11,612 |
 | Luther Dowe | 18.0 | 2,542 | |
| Total votes: 14,154 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 29
Incumbent Scott Plakon defeated Tracey Kagan in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 29 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Plakon (R) | 51.0 | 37,778 |
| Tracey Kagan (D) | 49.0 | 36,275 | |
| Total votes: 74,053 | |||
| = 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 Florida House of Representatives District 29
Tracey Kagan defeated Darryl Block in the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tracey Kagan | 66.8 | 7,464 |
| Darryl Block | 33.2 | 3,711 | ||
| Total votes: 11,175 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29
Incumbent Scott Plakon advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 29 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Plakon |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Tracey Kagan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kagan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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A small-business owner herself, Tracey Kagan's number #1 priority is laser-focused on restoring Florida's economy in light of COVID-19. While her Republican opponent spent his time avoiding term limits and voting on legislation that hurts working families, Tracey has transitioned her campaign to be a source of leadership and help within her Seminole County community. With a strong emphasis on accessibility, empathy and a determined skill-set that she uses everyday in the court room, Tracey Kagan is ready to forge a way forward for all those who have been displaced this year due to the pandemic.
Tracey is building a multi-generational movement in Seminole County, from her initial activism regarding gun safety after the tragedy at Stoneman Douglas, to her current relief effort to those most affected by COVID in Seminole County, including senior citizens, small-business owners, and working families navigating e-learning. She has always been on the frontlines of positive change, and this November 3rd 2020, she asks for your vote to flip Florida Blue!- Restoring Florida's Economy, including small-business and unemployment support
- Increasing Affordable Health Access, including Medicaid expansion and KidCare
- Protecting and Funding Public Education, including increased teacher pay and more power to School Boards
But on the other side of our economy is our job-providers, especially the small business owners who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic. According to an FSU Study published in June, nearly 15% of small business owners in Florida have had to shut their doors. We need to reimagine how Tallahassee can help small-business owners, keep their employees working, and help them to expand their operation.
I've both read her book 'Becoming' and watched her Netflix film with excitement and admiration. From her championing of public schools and education, to the way she messages positivity to young people; and finally, the openness in which she talks of her marriage, family and career is a delicate balance that I've not seen articulated to such a degree. She talks frankly, telling us to not be afraid, to be focused, determined, hopeful and provides a venue of self-empowerment.
She says famously that we can't afford to wait for the world to be equal, to start feeling seen. It is with these words that I propel myself to run for Florida House District 29. It is easy to despair, but it is individuals like Michelle Obama that provide a tangible hope and a pathway to better our lives and society. Michelle taught me that my story is my strength. That me, as a 58 year old Jewish mother of three beautiful daughters who has a passion for justice can make a positive difference in my State of Florida. It was through her marriage with President Obama that Michelle made a clear vision for her career and life, but also made important to note that happiness does not depend on a partner.
I want to remain accessible for my future constituents, so they will always feel that have an open-door to their Representative in Tallahassee. I'm committing to hearing the concerns of all voters, and that is why I freely give out my email to whomever wants to contact me (tracey@kaganforflorida.com). We can then set up phone-calls to address the concerns offline, and to make sure there is going to be a resolution when I get to Tallahassee. Quite frankly, this is not how the current situation works with Representative Scott Plakon, who has been in the Legislature for too long, escaping both term limits and voters as they try to get their questions on education, unemployment, or COVID answered.
The reason I remain accessible is also the reason I value my second principle of empathy: I'm doing this for the Floridians in District 29 representing Seminole County, and I'm doing this to make sure they have a voice in Tallahassee. The voices and concerns of my neighbors will inform my policy. I think that humility is also an aspect, because unlike some other legislators, I won't claim to know everything. I'll need to hear the concerns, stories and principles of District 29's residents.
It's one to thing to hear the voices of my future-constituents, but it's another thing entirely to fight in Tallahassee on their behalf, and that is where my determination and skill-set come into play. Don't forget, I'm an experience attorney of 30 years and a pitbull in the courtroom. It's this mindset that I'm determined to take with me as I legislate and make policy for the benefit of all families, not just in my District, but throughout Florida.
From public education, to the jobs they will be filling, and especially to the planet they will be inheriting, I plan to fight for it all. One issue of the environment is something I haven't touched upon in this survey, and it's especially important to me. While we have made strides in recent years to address the issues of our environments and water crisis, there is still no comprehensive nutrient-reduction plan, accompanied by long-term funding necessary to solve our water crisis. That is where I come in State Legislator, and that is why I intend to sponsor provide adequate water supply for the future, especially in our aquifers and keeping that land public, as well as protect water quality through industry standards, implement flood protection and floodplain management, and protect natural systems by investing in management and emerging technology and practices. Lastly, I would bring special attention to increasing funding for state and local parks to provide an outdoor, recreational area for tactical learning experiences that are so needed for the growing youth of Florida.
This is all the while my opponent is amassing large sums of money from corporate interests, and we are now up against a Goliath of massive amounts of money and negative campaign ads. And that's when the song comes rearing in my head, along with the voices of many of my neighbors eager to find a solution to the problems of health care, the economy, and public education.
My eldest daughter also went to UF, and Gainesville is home to Tom. The connection is important because it reminds me whom I'm not backing down for: My daughters. I've been fighting for a better future for them all my life, and now I'm eager to fight for the children of others, too. Be it for the jobs that they will eventually have, the education that will help mold them to be who they need to be, the environment that they can enjoy in the future, or the freedoms that have been granted to us. I'm building a coalition to elect real leadership in District 29, something that has been absent for far too long. I would be the first woman to hold this seat, and it would be my greatest honor.
To hammer the point all the way home, this is a picture from our official campaign Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/TraceyForFlorida/photos/a.1323705911063888/2325597560874713/?type=3&av=1316272791807200&eav=AfbLGs6-q3sUF7lp5Tjg3hhhfP_RHm4WAcZTmSLoHVgR2ShCWJFZ1Dcita9IsWDjmnV9GOb1hPhhFi514k97q9h6&__tn__=%2CO*F
On a per capita basis, health spending has increased over 31-fold in the last four decades, from $355 per person in 1970 to $11,172 in 2018. I myself pay over $1,100 a month on healthcare, and more out-of-pocket with medication for my 86 year-old mother. This is exorbitant, regressive, and all the more dangerous when COVID-19 has revealed the urgent need for health insurance, coverage, and access.
As for education, I've stated before that all three of my daughters were raised and went through Seminole County Public Schools, and I will always be an advocate for a high-quality public education. I truly believe for all children, it is an economic necessity, an anchor of democracy, a moral imperative and a fundamental civil right to have access to a good education. I believe that our public schools represent our state's commitment to helping children succeed. Yet Florida's public schools have seen decades of neglect. Florida is 43rd in per student expenditures for education, 46th in teacher pay, and 49th in paraprofessional pay. We must invest in our public schools and change the policies that have placed our students' education in jeopardy.
Regarding health care, I'm similar to a lot of folks in that my healthcare costs are always at the forefront of mind. Unplanned medical bills is the leading cause of bankruptcy for Americans now, and this has to end now. That is why the opportunity to serve on the Health and Human Services Committee would be a personal honor as I legislate for the betterment of all working families. I will do that by doing everything I can to make sure our health systems take care of Floridians as unemployment surges, and with that, loss of health plans. States already serve as purchasers of private insurance for state employees and retirees, and as regulators of private insurance; this gives Florida an opportunity to negotiate a statewide purchasing system for prescription drugs with a coalition of public and private purchasers, as well introduce inflation-caps and patient cost-sharing to private insurance plans.
As a small business owner myself, I would be able to bring to the Commerce Committee the perspective of so many Floridian local business owners who have suffered through through COVID-19. With unemployment above 15% and even higher in tourist-heavy areas, COVID-19 has unearthed some of the greatest failures in our State's economy. Florida's 2011 Unemployment Package has burdened the State a decade later and was crafted to punish those who are out-of-work. That is why I will commit with laser-focus in fixing Florida's chaotic and inept unemployment system.
As for memorable stories, it's funny. When I originally began campaign, the goal was to knock on every door and shake every hand in my bid to help working families. But since the pandemic, my run for office has transitioned into a public advocacy campaign helping all those affected during COVID-19. I've had a District 29 resident call me asking how to navigate the broken unemployment website in April 2020. It was that call that inspired my Unemployment Help Page on my website: https://kaganforflorida.com/unemployment-covid-19/
In terms of small business, I get the immense honor of talking to a new small business owner every week when I do my Facebook Livestream on Friday's at 3PM. You can check a conversation out here (https://www.facebook.com/1316272791807200/videos/909942339520939/) or even reach out to me if you're a small business owner who wants to be featured!
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.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
