By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

(This story is based on Senator Perry’s Comments at the July 22 Republican candidates’ forum in Cedar Key. A previous story published on July 27 focused on his comments about the toll road at the same forum.)

            State Sen. Keith Perry told Republicans at their July 22 candidates forum in Cedar Key that he hasn’t filed any bills in the Florida Legislature to give Tallahassee more power as his opponent has suggested.

            He said he has done just the opposite.

            “The preemption bills I filed gave it back to you and that’s my goal is to say what is the government doing that inhibits you or your family,” said Perry, a candidate for the District 9 Senate seat.

            Perry, 63, owner of Perry Roofing Company, said he has never seen “the position we’re in today.”

            “We are in a culture war. If you are not part of that process, rules are going to be made and laws are going to be made to live by,” he said.

            Questioner Parks Wilson said Perry has never represented Levy County. He wanted to know if he would be accessible to Levy County residents.

            Perry corrected Wilson saying he had represented Levy County in the past. He said he served the eastern part of Levy County, the Williston area, in his first two years in the Legislature. He said he knows a lot of people in Williston and has done a lot of business there.

            “Being a conservative state senator and living in Gainesville can be “a little difficult,” he said. Perry said he likes serving rural communities. He often feels more comfortable in rural areas than in Gainesville.

            “You can also talk to the people in Putnam County that I represented, and I represented Dixie and Gilchrist County as well. We set up offices in rural areas. I was the first state representative to set up a state office in Dixie County that we manned and had people there to be responsive. We didn’t want the people in Dixie County having to drive to Gainesville to meet us, so we set up an office there and we were the first to do that,” Perry said.

            Perry has served six years in the Florida House of Representatives and six years in the Florida Senate. He has served in Senate District 8 since 2016. Redistricting has moved him to Senate District 9 this year.

            He said his father was a University of Florida professor. His sister and brother are graduates of UF. Another sister lives in North Carolina.

            “I barely made it through high school. I always wanted to be outside. I started my own business. When I got out of high school, I was 17 years old. I started Perry Roofing Company. I have about 120 employees. We work all over the state. One of my first projects was housing 35 to 40 years ago,” Perry said.

            Perry said he decided to run for state office in 2010. He was approached by State Senator Steve Oelrich at the time about running.

            “I didn’t want to run. I had two young daughters at home. I had a business that was struggling. Then I started thinking about my two daughters. I thought about the opportunities I had as a young man. I started a business. What kind of opportunities were they going to have and their classmates,” Perry said.

            When Perry was growing up in Gainesville, he said every business was owned by an individual.

            “Now, every business is owned by a corporation or a franchise. You got to ask yourself in a 40-to-50-year period why that changed so much. It is the legal and regulatory environment that changed and it has put opportunities for young people that want to change the world at a disadvantage. They cannot pursue their dreams.”

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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt July 22, 2022; Posted July 28, 2022