Autism Mom Wins in Florida
By Joe Kollin. Excerpted from the Sun-Sentinel
Ellen and Rick Blackburn, parents of 8-year-old Aaron, who is autistic, don’t live in the district but were so thankful for her help that “we got all of our friends in her area to vote for her and even got really nice e-mails back from them about the reasons they voted for her,” Ellen Blackburn said
With the final vote count unlikely to change the outcome, Democrat
Barbara Herrera-Hill on Thursday conceded that Republican Susan Goldstein
won the race for the state House District 97 seat, representing western
Broward County.
And Goldstein on Thursday was so confident she won the two-year term
that she flew to Tallahassee for an orientation meeting of freshman
legislators.
Herrera-Hill said “the votes are in” and the results are not likely to
produce an upset.
The district covers the western area of the county, between Davie and
Southwest Ranches on the south, and Parkland and Coral Springs on the north.
Both candidates live in Weston.
The seat was vacant because incumbent Nan Rich, a Democrat who won by
only 542 votes two years ago, ran for and captured a state Senate seat this
year.
Goldstein, 46, who was running her first race, chalked up her victory
to hard work by supporters.
“We worked very hard and left no stone unturned,” she said.
A successful investment banker until a few years ago, she quit to
devote herself to children’s causes, especially autistic children. Her
issues were increasing funding for education, transportation, human services
and natural resources without raising taxes.
Ellen and Rick Blackburn, parents of 8-year-old Aaron, who is autistic, don’t live in the district but were so thankful for her help that “we got all of our friends in her area to vote for her and even got really nice e-mails back from them about the reasons they voted for her,” Ellen Blackburn said.
Goldstein “has a heart of gold and has always come through for our
families with autism; when needed she is a phone call and an e-mail away,”
Blackburn added.
