Stewart stands up lindastewartforsenate.com for District 13 run

Former State Representative and Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart hasn’t formally announced her intentions for 2016, but a new website may spell it out for us.

www.lindastewartforsenate.com is up, and is likely the final indicator that she’ll be declaring her candidacy in the coming days.

This shouldn’t come as a suprise, Stewart has been teasing a run for months, but it will serve notice to her primary opponent, fellow Democrat and former Orange County School Board Member Rick Roach, who has been running for over a year, and had a phone conversation with Stewart over the possibility that she could run.

On the Republican side, Realtor Dean Asher has established a strong campaign early on, retired contractor Chuck Sheridan has also filed. The last big piece missing from the equation is the possibility of Camille Gardiner, running for her Husband, Senate President Andy Gardiner’s seat in District 13. The Gardiners have stepped up their presence at local political events recently, hinting a possible run.

Stewart served on the Orange County Commission for 8 years, before terming out and launching a short lived campaign for then State Senate District 12, before switching to House District 47 and serving one term, before being defeated by current Rep, Mike Miller last November. There had been buzz she was being encouraged to go for the rematch, but with these developments and her posture recently, that seems unlikely. She has never lost during a Presidential election cycle.