Bill Conerly
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Bill Conerly (Republican Party) is a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 72. He assumed office on November 5, 2024. His current term ends on November 3, 2026.
Conerly (Republican Party) ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 72. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Conerly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Bill Conerly was born in Miami, Florida. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1989. He graduated from Arcadia Christian School. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in 1997. His career experience includes working as a civil engineer and electrician with the U.S. Navy.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 72
Bill Conerly defeated Lesa Miller in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 72 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bill Conerly (R)  | 65.0 | 70,686 |
 | Lesa Miller (D) | 35.0 | 38,139 | |
| Total votes: 108,825 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Lesa Miller advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 72.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 72
Bill Conerly defeated Richard Tatem, Alyssa Gay, and Richard Green in the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 72 on August 20, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bill Conerly | 31.1 | 6,172 |
 | Richard Tatem | 28.1 | 5,587 | |
 | Alyssa Gay | 22.5 | 4,472 | |
| Richard Green | 18.3 | 3,645 | |
| Total votes: 19,876 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Tommy Gregory (R)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Conerly in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bill Conerly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Conerly's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a husband, father, veteran, civil engineer and lifelong conservative Republican. I am an engineer by trade with deep roots in Manatee County. The Conerly campaign focuses on an America First agenda for Florida, with an emphasis on building infrastructure and housing affordability. In 1997, I earned his Bachelor of Science in ABE Engineering from the University of Florida. I began my career focusing on stormwater/floodplain modeling and routing. By 2001, I had earned his Professional Engineer (PE) license in Civil Engineering with a focus in Water Resources. Over the past 27 years, I have worked on a wide variety of projects, including Affordable & Senior Housing, Hospital, Roadway, Single & Multifamily Residential, and Institutional & Educational projects. Throughout my career, I have also been deeply committed to his community, serving on several voluntary boards. I spent 12 years on the Manatee County Planning Commission, 10 of them as Chairman. I have also been a member of the MPO and the ELMAC. Currently, I currently serve on the County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. The reason I am running to serve in the State House is very similar to the reason I joined the military. I have a spirit of service and want to use my skills, knowledge, and experience to make Southwest Florida a better place. As an engineer, I will bring a unique skillset and problem-solving perspective to Tallahassee.
- Housing Affordability is a passion of mine and will be a priority when elected. Specifically, housing for the working, middle class including teachers, nurses, police offices and firefighters, for example. As a civil engineer, I understand the things that tend to drive up the cost of housing along with material and skilled labor shortages. The solution to this problematic issue is not government spending. The solution will come from the private businesses and industry by removing the burdensome governmental hurdles.
- Infrastructure Improvement is another area of passion and expertise. As a civil engineer, I have design, permitted and constructed all kinds of infrastructure. I understand things that could be done to benefit the construction of critical infrastructure. Two beneficial things would be to require each municipality to prepare masters plans to identify critical infrastructure needs and for State/local review agencies to provide rapid responses in the review of applications/plans for this critical infrastructure.
- My third priority is very technical, but in summary it is the reduction of the high nutrient loading (Total Phosphorus and Total Nitrogen) in surface water discharges. In 2024, the Governor sign SB 7040 into law, which updates Florida's stormwater rules and design criteria to protect our waterways. The Water Management Districts (WMD) will be required to update there rules, consistent with the ratified FDEP rules. The benefit of this will be ongoing and will evolve as it requires monitoring and reporting related to the required nutrient reduction.
I am most passionate about Housing Affordability and Infrastructure Improvement (transportation, water supply and wastewater processing). These are areas that significantly affect the quality if life in Southwest and all of Florida and areas in which I have expertise to help.
I look up to and respect Tommy Gregory. I saw how he conducted himself as a House member for 6 years and was tremendously impressed with his character.
As a young man, I was tremendously influence by:
My grandfather, who believed in hard work and self-reliance.
My pastor/teacher/football coach, Mr. Powell who taught me to never give up and to never quit.
And President Reagan, who demonstrated the importance of clear and unwavering leadership.
The characteristics that are most important for an elected official are very similar to any leader. While there are many, here are a few that immediately come to mind. These are Integrity, Strong Moral Compass, Vision, Empathy, Courage and Respectfulness (respect for others).
Integrity and Strong Moral Compass are related in my opinion. There are certain principles that I hold dear and are not negotiable. The unwavering support of these principals are very important to my credibility.
An elected official needs Vision. This allows for thoughtful planning to avoid being blindside or surprised by unexpected events.
Empathy is a critical for an elected official as it allows for an understanding of how the their action may affect others.
It is also very necessary that an elected official have Courage. The decisions they make, may at times, may be beneficial of some groups over others. A leader must have the courage to decide for the greater good.
Respect for others is an important characteristic of an elected official and a leader. There is never an appropriate time to be disrespectful of someone's opinion or position. There might be a disagreement or difference of opinion, but this should be viewed as an opportunity to explain, discuss or debate, if it is not related to a core or moral principle. The result is likely to be a better decision.
As a civil engineer, I tend to analyze and make decisions based on facts and not emotion. In addition, I have a very unique set of experiences that include a background in agriculture, engineering, a business owner, father and husband.
The two primary responsibilities of a Florida House of Representative member is Legislative and Appropriations.
I view the Legislative responsibility as an opportunity to make rules that put all Floridians in a position to flourish.
The Appropriation responsibility is an opportunity to provide funding to the most critical and beneficial needs for the State.
In addition, I think it is extremely important that all elected officials be good stewards of the money of the citizens of Florida's money.
Reduced housing cost and increased availability.
Putting the people and businesses in the State to Florida.
Watergate. I remember this from sitting and watching the hearings and news with my grandfather, when I was 7 years old.
I built fence and worked cows while in high school. I did this for about 4 years.
Sherlock Holmes The Complete Works of Author Conan Doyle.
I generally don't think in such terms, but for this question, Sherlock Holmes.
Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker
Time management. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done I think needs to be accomplished.
I believe that is is important that each performs the duties independent. The Governor might identify priorities, but the Legislature must perform the duties independent of undue influence.
I think that housing affordability and sufficient infrastructure are two very critical things for the State to flourish.
Other issues are home insurance. But recent actions by the Legislature is likely to be beneficial. We'll need to monitor and may need to take further action in the future.
Another area I think would be beneficial is the training of a skill workforce.
Not necessary.
I think it is more beneficial that there is a clear understanding of their obligations. We do not need full time politicians in the Florida House or Senate. I think it is more critical we have citizen politicians (part time politicians).
Yes, I think it would be beneficial. One very good example would be Appropriations. It is very probable that a roadway improvement or constructed in an adjacent District is very likely to benefit an adjacent District.
Tommy Gregory - I really respect the way Tommy has conducted himself. I have been following and working with Tommy since his first campaign and have visited him in Tallahassee.
No. I have no future aspirations to do nothing more than the State House.
Rebecca Fowler - Cell: 352-275-6679, Email: [email protected]
She shared how she lost her daughter to an accidental overdose and I could feel & see the pain with which she was dealing with everyday. She is trying to do anything she can to keep others from suffering the same fate.
This may only be funny to engineers, but here it is
Question: Why did the engineer cross the road.
Answer: That's what he did on his last project.
I don't think it appropriate. If there is an emergency, it would be very difficult to call the Legislature to take action. A more appropriate approach might be to seek ratification of actions for the granting of an emergency.
One related to housing affordability would be using the Live Local bill, but provide density bonuses to private developers willing to do 40% of the housing units as affordable at 30% to 80% and also 81% to 100% AMI, restricted for 30 years on properties designated or zones as multifamily. This would increase the number of available apartments built by the private entities.
Sheriff Kurt Hoffman
Manatee County Commissioner and Chairman Mike Rahn
Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge
Manatee County Commissioner Jason Bearden
Manatee County Commissioner Ray Turner
Sarasota County Commissioner and Chair Mike Moran
Sarasota County Commissioner Ron Cutsinger
Sarasota County Commissioner Mark Smith
Sarasota County Commissioner Neil Rainford
Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Neunder
Sarasota County Commission Candidate Teresa Mast
Former Sarasota County Commissioner Alan Maio
Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee County
Florida Electrical Cooperatives Association
Florida Home Builders Association
Florida Transportation Builders' Association
Infrastructure Strategies Committee - Agriculture, Conservation & Resiliency Subcommittee, Transportation & Modals Subcommittee or Water Quality, Supply & Treatment Subcommittee. All of these of of interest and areas I have expertise in.
Appropriations Committee - Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee or Infrastructure & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee
I think financial transparency and government accountability is extremely important. It needs to be very clear that the decisions being made are for the benefit of the residents of Florida and not for their own gain.
I would be willing to discuss and debate specific initiative process, but I current do not have information that leading me to believe a specific change is needed.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Florida House of Representatives District 72 |
Officeholder Florida House of Representatives District 72 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 23, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tommy Gregory (R) |
Florida House of Representatives District 72 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
