Carey Baker exploring run to succeed Daniel Webster in CD 11

Former Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker is exploring a campaign to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Webster.

That has the potential to set up a GOP Primary with Baker and a onetime protégé, Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, who has already run for the seat.

Carey represented much of the Central Florida district in Florida’s Legislature, in both the House and Senate, before being elected countywide as a constitutional official.

“With Congressman Dan Webster retiring, I’m seriously considering a run for his seat in Congress,” Baker wrote in a message shared across social media.

“I’ve spent my life serving — as a small business gun shop owner, Iraq War veteran, former State House and Senate member, Property Appraiser, Christian, family man, and even a Scoutmaster. Throughout it all, I’ve worked to be a strong principled conservative and a steady, hardworking leader who strives to put people and country over politics.”

Baker most recently served multiple terms as Property Appraiser but lost re-election in 2024 after filing for re-election as a write-in candidate. After David Jordan filed as Republican, he defeated Baker by a 3-to-1 margin in the General Election.

Webster announced this week that he will not seek re-election, opening up the seat just as the Legislature passed a map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Under the seat, Florida’s 11th Congressional District includes all of Sumter County, some of west Orange County and most of Lake County.

Baker after his election loss in 2024 worked with Sabatini in an effort to become Lake County Republican Party Chair, though that was unsuccessful.

Baker has remained a high-profile Republican leader in Lake County since his election to the Florida House in 2000 before he ascended to the Florida Senate. His father also served the area in the Florida House.

CD 11 under the new map becomes more Republican than it already was. More than 57% of voters there backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election.