Anthony Bonna has another endorsement to staple to the pile — this one with a national, faith-and-values flavor.
The Port St. Lucie City Councilman and Republican candidate for House District 85 announced Friday that he’s earned the backing of Huck PAC, the political committee founded by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — now Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Israel. The group called Bonna a “pro-life champion” and listed him as one of just two names in its latest endorsement slate, alongside Ohio U.S. Sen. Jon Husted.
“To receive the endorsement of Huck PAC is both humbling and encouraging,” Bonna said, crediting Huckabee’swillingness “to speak openly about his faith and convictions for many years.”
It’s a tidy add for a candidate who has spent the cycle methodically boxing out the field. A former St. Lucie County Commissioner — appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2018 — and a longtime GOP state committeeman, Bonnaalready claims Scott, term-limited HD 85 incumbent Toby Overdorf, Americans for Prosperity Action, Associated Industries of Florida PAC, Florida Realtors PAC, Florida Right to Life PAC and a long roster of Treasure Coast badge-and-business names. With Primary Election rival Thomas Colter’s path narrowing, Bonna is running like a man who’d rather lock down August now and spend the fall looking at November.
He may need the cushion. Democrat Wayne Richter, a Stuart criminal-defense attorney, filed for the open seat and posted a not-nothing $82,000 in his first month — proof national Democrats would love to make a Martin–St. Lucie stretch competitive. The seat leans Republican, and Overdorf has held it comfortably since 2018. But “leans” is doing some work in a midterm where the top of the ticket is unsettled, and Richter’s early haul is the kind of number that gets a district penciled onto somebody’s target list.
For now, Bonna keeps stacking. The Huckabee nod won’t move many votes in a GOP-friendly Treasure Coast district, but it reinforces the lane he’s running in — pro-life, anti-spending, law-and-order — and hands him another logo for the mailers. In a race that may be decided less by persuasion than by who clears the Primary Election upright, that’s rather the point.
The Primary Election is Aug. 18. The General Election is Nov. 3.
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Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.
