Candidate Profile: CJ Czaia (State House, Dist. 70)

BRADENTON – Christopher John "CJ" Czaia is running for the Florida State House District 70. The remapped district crosses the Sunshine Skyway and snakes through no less than four counties (including Manatee). It IS currently represented by Democrat, Darryl Rousen, who terms out this year.

A Bradenton-based attorney, Czaia is the former head of the Manatee County Democratic Party. He is perhaps best known for starting UnidosNow, "a community?-oriented social justice group that serves to empower Latinos to achieve their American Dream," in 2010.

Czaia has a B.A. in International relations from Florida International and graduated with a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, MI. He is a former public defender with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee, Sarasota, and Desoto Counties and currently has a private practice that specializes in personal injury law.

The son of a Foreign Service officer, Czaia says he spent much of his youth traveling the world, where he came to appreciate a great nation "that guarantees the rights of ordinary citizens to rally against the abuse and oppression of government, individuals, insurance companies and corporations."

Czaia faces two competitors for the Democratic nomination, Dan Fiorini and St. Pete City Councilman Wengay Newton. Republican Cori Fournier has also filed; however, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 52,000 to 13,000 in the district, making the primary into the de facto general election. District 70 starts in a small part of south Hillsborough County, and gets most of its voters from Pinellas, before a narrow path cuts through Manatee and Sarasota counties.