The new congressman from Florida’s 5th District is Richard Nugent, a Republican who succeeded the retiring Ginny Brown-Waite, also a Republican, in 2010. Nugent was born in Evergreen Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, the youngest of three children. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a homemaker. After high school, Nugent served in the Illinois Air National Guard for six years and became a police officer, working his way up to sergeant in the Romeoville, Ill., police department. He adopted Florida as his home after attending Saint Leo University, a Catholic liberal-arts college in St. Leo. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from Troy State University. Nugent joined the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office in 1984; he was elected to his first term as sheriff in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He and his wife, Wendy Nugent, have two sons in the Army and a third in the Army Reserve. Read More

The new congressman from Florida’s 5th District is Richard Nugent, a Republican who succeeded the retiring Ginny Brown-Waite, also a Republican, in 2010. Nugent was born in Evergreen Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, the youngest of three children. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a homemaker. After high school, Nugent served in the Illinois Air National Guard for six years and became a police officer, working his way up to sergeant in the Romeoville, Ill., police department. He adopted Florida as his home after attending Saint Leo University, a Catholic liberal-arts college in St. Leo. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from Troy State University. Nugent joined the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office in 1984; he was elected to his first term as sheriff in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He and his wife, Wendy Nugent, have two sons in the Army and a third in the Army Reserve.

Over the years, Nugent presided over a drop in crime. In 2009, Hernando County recorded its lowest violent-crime rate since he took office. The next year, his office took control of operations of the Hernando County Jail, which had been run by the private Corrections Corporation of America. The firm had been criticized for being soft on prisoners. Nugent told the St. Petersburg Times, “There’s a new sheriff in town. It’s not going to be a relaxed, Club Med atmosphere.” Nugent canceled weekly “pizza nights” and other advantages enjoyed by Hernando County prisoners. He returned $2 million in unspent funds to the county in 2009.

In April 2010, Brown-Waite announced she would not seek re-election to a fifth term because of health problems. She made the announcement on candidate filing day in Florida, which allowed Nugent to file the necessary legal papers by the deadline. Brown-Waite also issued a statement strongly endorsing Nugent. The arrangement sparked bitter complaints from other Republicans who had been waiting for the opportunity to run for a House seat. Public Service Commission Chair Nancy Argenziano and state Sen. Mike Fasano both said they might have run.

Nugent did draw a primary challenge from Jason Sager, a political neophyte whose father served as his campaign chief. Sager, a former audiovisual technician, was backed by tea party activists, but the upstart campaign never gained traction. In a July debate, Sager attacked Nugent for the succession deal with Brown-Waite. Nugent charged that Sager wanted to end Social Security and Medicare, a political no-no in the retiree-heavy congressional district. Sager countered that he supported a long-term phase-out of Social Security that would not deprive benefits to people who paid into the system. Nugent won the August 24 primary, 62% to 38%.

In the general election, he faced Democrat Jim Piccillo, a 36-year-old business consultant and a former Republican, who had an uphill battle in the GOP-tilting district. Piccillo cast himself as a moderate and a pragmatist who would work to reduce federal spending and regulation on businesses. Piccillo also reprised the issue of Nugent’s anointment by Brown-Waite and criticized him for using a picture of his sheriff’s badge on his campaign website. For his part, Nugent proposed freezing government spending at 2008 levels and campaigned against the Democrats’ $787 billion economic stimulus bill. He portrayed Piccillo in a mailing as the “hand-picked candidate” of liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, prompting Piccillo to call him a “flat out liar.” Nugent outraised his opponent in this relatively low-budget affair, $518,000 to $147,000, and won easily, 67% to 33%.