Republican candidates for State House, District 22 speak on turnpike extension project ahead of election

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -The two Republican candidates running for State House District 22 include incumbent, Chuck Clemons and challenger, Ty Appiah.

Appiah is a Levy County resident, along with his wife and three kids. If elected, he wants to fight ‘red flag’ gun laws, as he’s a pro-second amendment candidate. Appiah said supporting rural communities is a priority, which is why he opposed the controversial northern turnpike extension project that is now on pause.

“I’ve been pretty adamant about being against the toll roads that were gonna be coming through, now thankfully they have been paused,” said Appiah. “So that has been as of recent. I live in levy county so this is a very rural county, very agricultural, we have a lot of farms.”

RELATED STORY: Northern Turnpike Extension Project paused by FDOT

Incumbent Clemons said, his opponents who say, he once supported the turnpike project, are wrong. While he did vote to fund an F-DOT study to consider putting a toll road through Levy and Marion counties; he said he wanted those results, before signing petitions to oppose the project.

“I’m really happy that the toll road is not going through Levy county or some of the rural areas, but I had a wait and see attitude because I wanted to see what facts were presented first,” said Clemons. “My political opponents have taken that as an opportunity to say one thing or another about what I would be or would not be supportive of.”

Whichever Republican comes out on top, faces one of the Democratic candidates, either Olysha Magruder and Brandon Peters.

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