2 Republicans file for HD 89, targeting one of Florida’s most flippable Democratic seats

Two Republicans have filed to challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich in House District 89, ending what had been an uncontested re-election bid for the Lake Worth Beach lawmaker in one of the most competitive districts in the state.

Cathy Higgins, a former Atlantis City Council member and the city’s first woman Mayor, and Jeff Buongiorno, a businessman and repeat candidate, both filed for the inland Palm Beach County seat Thursday, one day before qualifying’s close Friday. Neither were listed as qualified for the race as of 10:20 a.m. Friday, though some candidates have been reporting delays in their qualifying status being updated.

The district had drawn attention heading into qualifying week as the most flippable seat in the Florida House — based on 2024 presidential vote margins — that still lacked a major-party challenger heading into this week.

Rated D+1, according to MCI Maps, HD 89 covers Greenacres, Lake Worth Beach, Lake Clarke Shores and Palm Springs. Tendrich won it by 2 percentage points in 2024.

Higgins is the better-known of the two new entrants. She served on the Atlantis City Council from 2008 to 2020 and is expected to draw institutional support from incoming House Speaker Sam Garrison and the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee.

In private life, she runs a security and valet company with her husband.

Buongiorno, who has previously run for Congress and Broward County Supervisor of Elections, has described himself as a political outsider with a background spanning law enforcement, technology vocational education, transportation and manufacturing.

Tendrich, meanwhile, is coming off a first term defined by her landmark domestic violence reform package — legislation that passed both chambers unanimously and was signed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The bill, which she described as turning “pain into policy,” drew on her experience fleeing to Florida to escape an abusive relationship and strengthened protections for survivors, enhanced penalties for repeat offenders, increased victim relocation assistance and established a GPS monitoring pilot program.

Criminal Justice Subcommittee Chair Danny Alvarez, a Republican, dubbed Tendrich the “honey badger of representatives” for her persistence in getting the measure heard and passed.

Tendrich’s other legislative efforts include a House-passed bill to replace references to the West Bank near Israel with the historical term “Judea and Samaria,” fully passed revisions to West Palm Beach’s firefighter and police pension funds, and statewide recognition of Jan. 27 as “Holocaust Remembrance Day.”

She has secured backing from a broad public safety coalition, including the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the Florida Fraternal Order of Police, Palm Beach County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Local 2928 and the AFL-CIO, and was named the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers’ 2026 “Elected Official of the Year.”

Tendrich, the only three of the candidates to qualify by 10 a.m. Friday, two hours before the deadline, has raised just over $38,000 this cycle.

The Primary, if both Republicans qualify, is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.