LSN Partners is continuing to expand its roster, bringing on Alexia Bean as a Partner.

Bean comes to LSN after leading defense firm Northrop Grumman’s State and Local Government Affairs division for the southeastern U.S. There, Bean worked on government relations strategies on behalf of Northrop Grumman in the national security sphere.

She has Florida government experience as well. Bean served both as the Legislative Affairs Director at the Department of Management Services, and as Deputy Legislative Affairs Director at the Department of Economic Opportunity, the former name of FloridaCommerce.

“Alexia’s experience in the public and private sectors, particularly in defense and state-level government affairs, will bring significant value to our clients and firm,” said Alex Heckler, Managing Partner and founder of LSN Partners.

LSN says the hire of Bean, who is based in Fernandina Beach, will boost the firm’s “impact in key industries, including aerospace, defense, and state-level government affairs.”

“Alexia will play a key role in LSN’s Republican Governors practice and further strengthen the firm’s presence across the Southeast United States and Northeast Florida,” added the release announcing the move.

“Alexia knows how to get things done,” said LSN’s Tallahassee Managing Partner, Cissy Proctor.

“I saw her ability to navigate complex policy and regulatory challenges firsthand at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. She understands how to work with state and local governments, build coalitions, and advocate effectively. Alexia will be a tremendous asset to LSN, and I am excited to work with her again.”

The move comes just under a month after LSN promoted Karem Sandgarten to serve as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer.

LSN Partners is a full-service, bipartisan consulting firm that offers strategic advice and advocacy related to government affairs, government procurement, emergency management, business development and communications. The firm is headquartered in South Florida, but has offices across the country.

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Regardless of how a high-profile congressional election plays out, Randy Fine has officially left his Senate seat. Republican voters in Senate District 19 on Tuesday will choose the most likely person to succeed him later this year, with his predecessor clearly in the mix.

Republican Debbie Mayfield, a Representative and former Senator, holds a massive money advantage ahead of the SD 19 Republican Primary.

But she faces Tim Thomas, a former Melbourne City Council member widely seen as a favorite of Gov. Ron DeSantis; Marcie Adkins, a Republican leader who challenged Fine in a 2020 Primary; and Mark Lightner, a business graduate hoping to stand out as someone who isn’t a career politician.

Mayfield already enjoyed a legal victory in getting her name to appear on the ballot. Secretary of State Cord Byrd earlier this year disqualified Mayfield on the grounds that since, as a term-limited Senator, she could not seek this Senate seat in 2024, she should not be able to run in a Special Election months later to replace Fine, who resigned the seat to run for Congress.

But the Florida Supreme Court said Byrd erred both in reaching beyond the ministerial duties of running the Division of Elections and misreading Florida’s term limit rules, which only restrict nonconsecutive service in office.

Since the state’s high court validated her candidacy, Mayfield has enjoyed massive financial support for her campaign. Through March 27, Mayfield spent nearly $169,000 on the race. She enjoyed support thanks to numerous influential political operations in Tallahassee donating maximum $1,000 contributions to her campaign, including Associated Industries of Florida, as well as lobbying firms like Greenberg Traurig, Rubin Turnbull & Associates and Ronald L. Book Government Consulting.

Political committees controlled by Senate President Ben Albritton and Sens. Jim Boyd, Colleen Burton, Ed Hooper, Corey Simon and Tom Wright, all of whom previously served with Mayfield in the Senate, also donated.

That gave Mayfield an edge financially before touching political committees under her control, including Conservatives for Good Government and Friends of Debbie Mayfield, the latter of which reported almost $117,000 in spending as of March 19.

The next biggest fundraiser proved to be Adkins, who spent more than $37,000 on the race through March 27. Thomas spent more than $14,000 through that point, while Lightner reported about $8,500 in expenditures. None of the candidates had high-profile committees supporting their campaigns.

Thomas has leaned on his time as a teacher and ROTC instructor in the community, promising to expand civic education and invest in technology in the schools, a high priority on the Space Coast. He has even incorporated the image of a rocket ship into his campaign logo.

Adkins has focused on economic and infrastructure, while staking out an anti-development position and the need to improve the health of the Indian River Lagoon.

Lightner, meanwhile, has called for ways to engage young conservatives, and on his website slams politicians “playing musical chairs,” a pretty direct slight at Mayfield.

But Mayfield has leaned on the same message that helped her win a House seat in November and which fueled past Senate races. She has promised tax relief for families and to champion parental rights in the Legislature.

She also has stressed that she has the support of President Donald Trump, who technically endorsed her House campaign last cycle after she switched her presidential endorsement from DeSantis to Trump in late 2023.

Many suspect that move also motivated the qualification fight with the administration ahead of this election. But if DeSantis doesn’t want Mayfield back in the Senate, that friction hasn’t resulted in any massive investment in an opponent’s campaign.

Of note, Mayfield as a sitting Representative has spent much of the last month in the Legislative Session in Tallahassee, barring her from raising money for a campaign. That’s a drawback to running essentially as an incumbent, just as serving in the Legislature for the past two decades has drawn criticism of being a career politician.

The winner of the Republican Primary in SD 19 will advance to a Special General Election on June 10. The GOP nominee will face Democrat Vance Ahrens, whom Fine defeated in November for the seat.

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Former state Rep. Joel Rudman’s congressional ambitions didn’t pan out. But eight Republicans jumped at the opening that his departure created in House District 3.

A Republican Primary on Tuesday will determine which candidate in a crowded field becomes the Republican nominee. Former Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles and former Jay Mayor Shon Owens have each spent more than six figures on the seat, with Assistant State Attorney Hayden Hudson also pulling together a respectable number of contributions and endorsements.

But other contenders in the race — Okaloosa County Republican Club President Rena McQuaig, former Okaloosa County Commission candidate Wade Merritt, Assistant State Attorney Joshua Sik, mental health advocate Cindy Smith and Milton veteran Jamie Lee Wells — have all worked the trail and hope to emerge from a fractured field.

The winner of the GOP Primary will advance to a June 10 General Special Election against Democrat Dondre Wise.

Boyles has raised the most outside contributions in the race, reporting more than $151,000 in contributions and spending nearly $111,000 as of March 27.

He has also secured endorsements from Jimmy Patronis, the front-runner for a congressional Special Election in Florida’s Panhandle the same day as the Primary, and from major lobbies in Tallahassee including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity. Boyles has run on a law-and-order message.

“We are a nation of laws and we must be an active partner in working with President (Donald) Trump and law enforcement in securing our southern border, ending taxpayer incentives that encourage illegal immigration, and deport illegal aliens caught in Florida,” Boyles said. “We must always stand for the rule of law and keep our communities safe and stand up for Americans first, and always.”

Owens, meanwhile, has pulled in about $80,000 in contributions and supplemented that with $41,000 in candidate loans. As of the last reporting period, he had spent more than any candidate in the race, upward of $120,000.

Owens had to resign his seat as Mayor in order to run, and left that office Friday. He also announced endorsements from former U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller and most of the Santa Rosa County Commission, with the race characterized in local media as an Okaloosa-Santa Rosa turf war, even as Owens’ own residency has been called into question, something he addressed in a campaign video.

“I’m standing here at my home in Jay, the one that I built with my own bare hands 25 years ago,” Owens said.

“I’ve spent my entire life in Jay. As you can see, I live right behind Pittman building supply, which brings me to the second lie, that I’m against Second Amendment rights. I’m standing here inside Pittman Building Supply, where I’ve legally sold firearms to the community under this federal firearms license I’ve held for the past 15 years. The third lie questions my stance on illegal immigration and E-Verify. I’m standing here in front of the office of two companies I own. Both of these companies are legally required to use E-Verify, and we follow that requirement strictly.”

Rudman, for his part, endorsed Hudson. So has former U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, an Ocala Republican who used to represent part of Northwest Florida. Hudson has spent more than $31,000 on the race, and reported more than $27,000 in contributions plus a $10,000 candidate loan to fuel his candidacy.

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