A former state representative who extols his lifelong ties to the neighborhood faces off against the top aide and endorsed successor to a current state representative in a special Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Travaris McCurdy and RaShon Young are hoping to succeed outgoing state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis in House District 40 in western Orange County, a heavily Democratic seat which includes parts of Orlando and Ocoee. Bracy Davis is resigning in order to run in the simultaneous special Senate election for the seat formerly held by the late Geraldine Thompson, who died in February.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Tuan Le of Titusville and write-in candidate Christopher Hall of Tallahassee in the Sept. 2 general election.

McCurdy, 41, of Orlando, an Olympia High School and Florida A&M University grad, was a legislative aide to former state Sen. Randolph Bracy, Bracy Davis’ brother, and Thompson before being elected to the state House in 2020. After redistricting, he lost a Democratic primary in 2022 to former state Rep. Bruce Antone.

“We need somebody that’s ready right now,” McCurdy said. “I don’t have to prepare, because I’ve done the role. Even after leaving the Legislature, I have continued to work in this community, in this district, where I was born and raised. The district does not have to learn about me.”

Young, who turns 26 on Sunday, graduated from high school in South Carolina and from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach before joining the campaigns of both Bracy and Bracy Davis. He currently serves as chief of staff to Bracy Davis, who endorsed him to succeed her on the day she launched her Senate campaign.

“I am not new to House District 40, its issues or its opportunities,” Young said. “I am not new to the families who call this district home and the community organizations that do their work in this district. I don’t need a reintroduction to the Florida Legislature. I don’t need a reintroduction to this community, because I have worked for this community for the last four years.”

Both candidates said Florida’s high cost of living was a top concern.

McCurdy said he was running because “Floridians can’t afford to live in Florida.”

“The state is out of shape when you talk about protecting public education, supporting teachers and providing services for students and staff, mental health services, supportive services, and proper funding, adequate funding,” McCurdy said. “Affordable housing is out of shape.”

McCurdy also said home insurance premium increases are “crushing people.” The state-run insurer of last resort, Citizens, “is overloaded, I believe, and we need to do what we can to alleviate Citizens property insurance, or make it stronger.”

Young said housing affordability “is the number one issue of Floridians and of people in House District 40.”

“We need to make sure that tenants and people who are renting have their own rights and their own protections,” Young said.

The other major issue is healthcare access, he said, citing Republican governors who refused to expand Medicaid in Florida and potential cuts to the program in Washington. He wants the state to spend more on community medical clinics.

“You can’t be great if people are struggling to pay for their medication,” Young said. “You cannot be great if our seniors are having to decide between meds or meals.”

Neither candidate completely ruled out Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal to eliminate property taxes, though both seemed skeptical.

Young said such an idea might well be “attainable and possible. I just think that there needs to be some smart, forward thinking conversations about the long term impact that it would have on our communities.”

McCurdy said he was “interested to hear all the details” of DeSantis’ proposal. “It sounds good on the surface, but if you’re eliminating taxes somewhere, that means we are going to be losing revenue for certain services and initiatives.”

A proposal from Orlando state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith to divert some tourist tax revenue away from marketing and other tourism-related functions and towards infrastructure, drew differing reactions.

McCurdy said lawmakers continue to raid for other uses Florida’s Sadowski Fund, a dedicated source of revenue for affordable housing. For that reason, he opposes plans to divert tourist tax money away from its stated purpose.

“If the state wants a dedicated funding source for road improvements, for infrastructure improvements, to improve our water quality, we’ve got to do the tough work and create a dedicated funding source,” McCurdy said. “We cannot expect one set of rules for one subject and not afford that to another, it just doesn’t make sense.”

Young said he had “a broad definition” of what benefits tourism, which can include infrastructure. “If you come to the Central Florida region, you want to feel safe, right?” Young said. “You don’t want to run over a pothole and get a flat tire in the rental car, because then it creates frustration.”

One of McCurdy’s most prominent actions while in office was leading a sit-in on the floor of the state House in 2022 to protest Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting maps, which eliminated a Black majority congressional seat in North Florida. McCurdy and Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon wore “Stop the Black Attack” T-shirts, sang “We Shall Overcome” and gave speeches while grinding the House to a halt for more than an hour. The maps were ultimately approved.

“Back in 2022, when he did his sit-in on the floor of the house, there were some people who felt really disrespected, and they felt like the institution was really disrespected,” Young said of McCurdy’s demonstration. “And some of those people who were in the Legislature then are now in leadership now, and I can guarantee you that he won’t have the opportunity to be effective, because they still will hold that over his head.”

McCurdy defended his protest, saying “it was important for me to turn the light on some of the negative things that were happening in Tallahassee.”

“I took advantage of that opportunity to let people at home know that, yes, I took an oath to do my job,” McCurdy said. “I wish that the rest of the Legislature had the gall to do their job and not relinquish those duties to the executive branch.”

Polls in District 40 will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.