A Lehigh Acres activist sees an opportunity for him to help improve the community.
Lehigh Acres activist Eric Engelhart has filed for an open state House seat in the new House District 77 as a Democrat.
- Make Lehigh Acres QUALITY OF LIFE BETTER
- Education is a PRIORTIY FOR LEHIGH ACRES
- Public Safety FIRE and POLICE is a must
- EPA Environmental protection of Lehigh Acres is a MUST
- MUST STOP WASTE … ALL WASTE
Engelhart sees an opportunity for the Lehigh community to have a dedicated voice in Tallahassee for the first time. “We are the largest unincorporated community in the state of Florida,” he said, “and we have been an ATM for the county and state and it needs to stop.”
Engelhart has been involved in local politics for years but never as a candidate.
Engelhart has lobbied locally for increases in deputies patrolling Lehigh Acres.
More recently, he has argued for the need to double the number of fire stations serving the unincorporated area.
Engelhart spent most of my adult life in New Hampshire and I’ve graduated college from Franklin pierce University in Rindge New Hampshire with a criminal justice degree and National Certified Paralegal.
He spends his free time traveling and taking care of our beautiful property in Lehigh Acres.
The new HD 77, meanwhile, houses no incumbent. Contained in Lee County, it covers Lehigh, San Carlos Park, and part of Estero.
Engelhart sees the change as fortunate, noting the unincorporated community in east Lee was divided into four House districts before.
Engelhart lists himself as a moderate, registered with a party mostly because Florida is a closed primary state. “I have always been in the middle of the road,” he said. “I don’t believe partisanship should have anything to do with how this position works.”
But he said even if he loses, Engelhart hopes the campaign process allows him to build a better platform for the Lehigh Acres community.