In April, Parkland Mayor, Christine Hunschofsky, announced her run for the Florida State House of Representatives District 96. She would be replacing former representative and friend, Kristin Jacobs. Jacobs passed away earlier this year following a three- year battle with colon cancer.
A 20-year Parkland resident before becoming Mayor in 2016, Hunschofsky served nearly four years as a Parkland City Commissioner, seven years on the city’s Education Advisory Board, and is currently a member of the Broward League of Cities School and Community Public Safety Task Force.
“I could never have imagined when I entered public office that I would see our community brutalized by a mass shooting and confronted by the devastating effects of an international health emergency,” Hunschofsky said in a press release announcing her candidacy.
“Both of these events have revealed urgent issues which must be addressed by the legislature now including gun safety, emergency preparedness, economic recovery, and fixing a broken unemployment system,” said Hunschofsky.
“I cannot think of a time when my friend Kristin Jacobs’ leadership has been more needed than during this current crisis,” she said. “Losing her is a true blow to our district and I intend to use my experience in government to do all I can to continue her work of fighting for our community in Tallahassee.”
The 96th District includes Parkland, Coconut Creek, parts of Margate, and the northeast section of Coral Springs in northeastern Broward County.
Parkland City Commissioner, Stacy Kagan, who served seven years with Hunschofsky and was vice mayor for two of the years, says, “Parkland has been fortunate to have had Christine’s leadership.”
A Parkland resident for the past 16 years, Kagan is now running to succeed Hunschofsky as Mayor.
“I endorsed Christine immediately,” she says, “and I think that she will
do an excellent job in the position.” said Kagan. “This town has a proud tradition of producing stellar leaders and it benefits our community to have leadership that understands the unique character and interests of this amazing place we call home. We have a resilient and united community and care about each other.”
A Boston native, Hunschofsky graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business administration and philosophy from Boston University, in 1996 she went on to earn her MBA from Babson College before relocating to Parkland with her husband, Hannes, and two sons.
Staying occupied with Zoom meetings during COVID-19 stay at home orders, Hunschofsky says when she received a text from Jacobs two weeks before her death saying she was not doing well and asking Hunschofsky to run in her stead, Hunschofsky knew she had to take the next step.
“I believe my experience allows me to bring a local perspective to Tallahassee,” Hunschofsky says. “I’ve worked on the local level and with leaders on a state level. This allows me to make a positive contribution and elevate local issues to Tallahassee.”
Following Jacobs’ commitment to environmental issues, specifically water quality issues, Hunschofsky plans to make this a priority in her agenda along with a focus on access and funding for mental health services, expanding Medicaid, school safety and common sense gun laws, and support for grief counselors and social workers in schools. (Hunschofsky was the Mayor during the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 2018.)
For the Aug. 18 primary, Hunschofsky will run against fellow Democrat, Saima Farooqui, who ran and lost to Jacobs with 20.7 percent of the votes, two years ago. A write-in candidate, Coral Springs resident, Muhammad Amin, (also a Democrat) will not appear on the ballot in the primary but will appear on the ballot for the general election, Nov. 3.
Attempts to contact these two candidates were unsuccessful.
Check out our podcasts with Commissioner Kagan, and Commissioner Walker on www. theparklander.com/podcast to hear more on why they are running for Parkland Mayor.
By Jan Engoren