A repeat candidate for Congress is presenting her name to voters again in 2024.
LaShonda "L.J." Holloway has filed with the Division of Elections to run in Florida's 4th Congressional District.
She will take on the man who defeated her by more than 20 points two years ago in the General Election: Fernandina Beach's Aaron Bean.
"Given Bean's record coupled with Reproductive Rights (Amendment 4) and The decriminalization of Marijuana (Amendment 4) on the ballot more people are engaged and I am hopeful that people like me who keep their pulse on the people and want to Defend our Democracy will VOTE L.J. Holloway for a better day," Holloway said in a text message Monday.
"More importantly, WE NEED PEOPLE who understand that a fair living wage, affordable housing, access to health care, social security and fighting for Voting Rights are issues that the REPRESENTATIVE in the Fourth Congressional District should fight for and I am seeking to represent these interests FOR THE PEOPLE."
Holloway, at this writing, appears to be alone in the Democratic field.
In 2022, Holloway narrowly defeated former state Sen. Tony Hill in a Primary. This came after the seat was remapped from a minority access configuration spanning areas from Jacksonville to Tallahassee to a more compact district, with Democratic areas in Jacksonville deliberately overwhelmed by Republican vote sinks in Nassau and Clay County.
Holloway's performance has improved over time.
In 2020, she finished in third place in an unsuccessful Primary challenge to former Congressman Al Lawson, getting less than 19% of the vote in the former Florida's 5th Congressional District. In 2016, she got just over 13%.
Holloway will face structural hurdles yet again in going against Bean, a former state lawmaker who ended March with more than $538,000 cash on hand, according to records from the Federal Election Commission. At this writing, she does not have a campaign account federally, suggesting she hasn't raised much money, if any.
Holloway attended Howard University, worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, before coming to Jacksonville and graduating from Edward Waters University with magna cum laude honors. She got her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin School of Law, where she received the Martin Luther King Award.
She returned to Washington for a second stint at the EPA, a period working with then-U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, and a period as Director in the Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances in the District of Columbia.
Qualifying is this week, and whether she completes that process before Friday ultimately determines whether she is on the ballot.
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