The strange shape of State House District 70 makes it hard to campaign. It's tough to make stops each day to constituents stretching from Ruskin in Hillsborough County to Newtown in Sarasota County. But both of the men running for the State House seat have spent plenty of time in the Sarasota-Manatee area looking to excite voters.

State Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, has regularly been greeting community leaders in Sarasota and Venice, swinging by a Newtown Early Voting Fish Fry just this weekend. He has an office in the Memphis area, and recently attended service at Light of the World International Church in Sarasota. "I'm doing my best to be active in Sarasota," Rouson said. "I met with the county NAACP last month, I've been to Newtown Estates and met with residents."

Part of that is Rouson is taking this election to a fourth term in office, the last continuous term allowed under Florida's term limit laws, quite seriously. So is his opponent Phil Garrett, a Saint Petersburg independent seeking to take the office with a message on early education. The two men face off on Nov. 4. All voters in the district may vote in this race. 

Garrett also has studied many issues in this part of state, closely following the structuring of the Community Redevelopment Area rules impacting North Sarasota. If elected, he wants to look at better ways to ensure money raised in poor areas like Newtown isn't syphoned through the CRA process toward wealthier commercial spots. "You see it all over the state," he said. "Communities get grants for blighted areas but rarely do they get improved. They pimp the poor and undeveloped communities, then the money goes to downtown areas."

While the district is heavily Democratic, Garrett hopes arriving in the state House without party affiliation will make it easier to find solutions to help constituents in Southwest Florida while serving in a GOP-dominated legislature. "I would like to advocate and draw a coalition together and support early education opportunities for kids, which in addition helps the economy in the future," he said. "Every dollar you invest in early education, you get $17 out for the economy. I find a lot of people are liking that platform."

Of course, Rouson takes some pride in bringing funding here with his party ID intact. He noted his role in bringing $5 million in state funding two years ago to the rowing center at Nathan Benderson Park. In his six years, he has developed strong working relationships, he said, with area Republicans like Reps. Ray Pilon, Greg Steube and Jim Boyd and with Sens. Nancy Detert and Bill Galvano. "As the only Democrat at this level representing Sarasota County, I have to show up and fight for Newtown," he said.