Doug Homeyer has entered the race for St. Pete City Council’s District 6 seat, currently occupied by Gina Driscoll. After officially filing April 1, the total candidate pool now sits at five hopefuls.
“My policy is to listen to the people, work hard for the people, and run to lead District six,” Homeyer told Poliverse.
While not a St. Pete native (he’s originally from Little Rock, Arkansas), Homeyer is bringing four decades of financial acumen into the race, adding to the unique mix of backgrounds represented by the other candidates.
The other candidates come from backgrounds in nonprofits, community and civic leadership. Conversely, Homeyer is the only candidate so far with a purely private sector background.
Until filing, Homeyer has maintained a relatively low political profile. Instead, his candidacy is defined by his role as a downtown St. Pete business owner and the founder and president of Benefits Plus Financial, an advisory firm based on Central Avenue focused on retirement planning, insurance and employee benefits.
According to LinkedIn, Homeyer holds a degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has earned several professional designations through The American College of Financial Services, including Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant.
He comes from a multi-generational background in financial services and, locally, he is a member of the Pinellas Beaches Chamber of Commerce and describes himself as “community-oriented” in his professional bio.
His primary concerns, he says, are the marina, Gas Plant District, Salt Creek (where Homeyer resides) and infrastructure. To this end, Homeyer expressed confidence in his ability to navigate the aforementioned sites of interest and develop accordingly.
“If you talk to anyone who knows me,” Homeyer noted, “I make things happen.”
The other candidates for District 6 are Terri Balliet, Linsey Grove, Trevor Mallory and Jameka Williams.
Balliet leads the campaign trail so far as the earliest to officially file, with the highest campaign fundraising, which recently exceeded $42,000 according to her campaign team and a stack of high-level endorsements, including former Mayor Rick Kriseman and House Representative and Speaker Pro-Tempore Sandra Murman.