Mel Ponder
Mel Ponder (Republican Party) was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 4. He assumed office on November 8, 2016. He left office on November 3, 2020.
Ponder (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 4. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 18, 2020.
Biography
Assemblymember Ponder was born on May 28, 1968, in Ocala, FL and attended Florida State University.[1] Ponder previously served as the mayor of Destin, Florida from 2014 to 2016.[2]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Ponder was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Florida committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Education |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 4
T. Patterson Maney defeated John Plante and Lance Lawrence in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | T. Patterson Maney (R) | 72.2 | 70,208 |
 | John Plante (D)  | 27.8 | 27,083 | |
 | Lance Lawrence (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 11 | |
| Total votes: 97,302 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. John Plante advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4
T. Patterson Maney defeated Jeff Hinkle, Jonathan Tallman, and Sandra Atkinson in the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4 on August 18, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | T. Patterson Maney | 37.9 | 9,908 |
| Jeff Hinkle | 34.4 | 9,001 | |
| Jonathan Tallman | 17.3 | 4,514 | |
| Sandra Atkinson | 10.4 | 2,730 | |
| Total votes: 26,153 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mel Ponder (R)
2018
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 4
Incumbent Mel Ponder defeated Rebecca Koelzer in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 4 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mel Ponder (R) | 72.1 | 51,263 |
 | Rebecca Koelzer (D) | 27.9 | 19,804 | |
| Total votes: 71,067 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4
Rebecca Koelzer advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Rebecca Koelzer |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4
Incumbent Mel Ponder advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 4 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Mel Ponder |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Florida House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.
Mel Ponder ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 4 general election.[3][4]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 4 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Mel Ponder (unopposed) | |
| Source: Florida Division of Elections | ||
Mel Ponder defeated Laurie Bartlett, Wayne R. Harris, Armand Izzo and Jonathan Tallman defeated in the Florida House of Representatives District 4 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 4 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mel Ponder |
29.07% | 6,691 | |
| Republican | Laurie Bartlett | 15.86% | 3,649 | |
| Republican | Wayne R. Harris | 20.82% | 4,791 | |
| Republican | Armand Izzo | 9.57% | 2,203 | |
| Republican | Jonathan Tallman | 24.68% | 5,679 | |
| Total Votes | 23,013 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mel Ponder did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 19.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 5 through May 3.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 11.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 7 through May 8. There was also a special session from June 7 to June 9.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 12 through March 11.
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Florida House of Representatives, "Mel Ponder," accessed November 6, 2019
- ↑ Sunshine State News, "Destin Mayor Mel Ponder Runs for Matt Gaetz's Florida House Seat," accessed November 6, 2019
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidate listing for 2016 general election," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidates and Races," accessed July 1, 2016
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "August 30, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed September 22, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Matt Gaetz (R) |
Florida House of Representatives District 4 2016-2020 |
Succeeded by T. Patt Maney (R) |
