Republican State Rep. Doug Bankson, 61, of Apopka is seeking re-election to represent District 39, which includes Apopka, Winter Garden, Zellwood and a portion of Seminole County. The pastor faces family law and child-abuse survivor advocate Marsha Summersill, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 election. Neither had a primary challenger. State representatives serve two-year terms and earn $29,697 annually.

Early voting takes place daily Oct. 21-Nov. 3, 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. Check our list for locations. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 24. Mail-in ballots can be returned to any early voting location but must be received by the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Bankson did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Aviation focus

An avid, experienced pilot, Bankson introduced five aviation-focused bills during his first term in office. These included bills to protect public airports against civil actions for noise pollution, a specialty license plate to fund post-secondary scholarships for those pursuing careers in the aviation field, and the construction of vertiports for aircraft that take off and land vertically and serve areas not reached by current air carriers.

Vertiport construction is a pet project for Bankson, who said in a video message to the Seminole Chamber of Commerce, that he wants "to make Florida the number one leader” in the vertical takeoff and landing vehicle industry. He said the bill didn't pass because he disagreed with how the Senate tried to change it, and that it was better to get it right than fast. “We’ll get that next time,” said Bankson, who received an “A” on the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Legislative Report Card.

Most of the other legislation he personally sponsored died in committee, though some companion Senate bills passed. However, Bankson’s license-plate scholarship measure passed after it was folded into a larger bill involving many specialty license plates. Bankson also worked with Democrat State Rep. Bruce Antone of District 41 to establish Tuskegee Airmen’s Commemoration Day as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday in March. That bill passed with broad bipartisan support.

Another pet issue for Bankson is his gold and silver legal tender bill, which died in committee last session.

“I really love this bill. This gives the ability to make [gold and silver] operate as cash again. And we’re able to do that by the Constitution,” Bankson said in his video to the Seminole Chamber of Commerce. “We need to get this bill passed to push back against the centralized bank digital currency that is being developed. They want to control everything we spend. But I believe in freedom, in life and in liberty.”

During a forum, he told WESH 2 News this would be the first bill he files.

Bankson has also touted two bills for their public service angle: one that would increase penalties for illegal booze sales, currently a third-degree felony, and an anti-drag race bill. Bankson has often joked about needing to clarify which kind of drag race he’s talking about. This bill would increase fines and penalties, including the loss of a driver’s license, for street racing.

Culture warrior

But Bankson, a hardline conservative, is no ally to the other drag community. The founder and senior pastor of the Victory Church World Outreach Center — which lists homosexuality along with witchcraft, idolatry and divorce among the things it considers sins — actively opposes benefits and rights for the LGBTQ community.

He sponsored two of the 19 anti-trans bills that Republicans filed ahead of the 2024 legislative session. Had it passed, the Gender and Biological Sex bill, would have replaced the word “gender” with “sex” on identification cards like  driver’s licenses. This means a person would have been identified by sex assigned at birth, regardless of how they self-present. It would have also required medical plans that cover hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care to also offer plans that don’t include those options as well as coverage for de-transitioning. Bankson’s bill would have also mandated that insurers cover anti-trans “conversion therapy.”

During discussions about the bill in the House Select Committee on Health Innovation meeting in January, Bankson described the legislation as “mak[ing] sure we are not mandating a coverage but rather bringing a parity to coverage that exists.”

Bankson also sponsored a one-page bill titled Lewd and Lascivious Grooming. That vaguely worded measure sought to label “encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity” via explicit communications, sexual conduct with the child or something “observed by the child without permission from the child’s parent of legal guardian” as grooming and a second-degree felony. Critics said the bill seems to target the LGBTQ and drag communities rather than actual groomers. The Tallahassee Democrat noted that in Florida “being gay in public often has been equated to grooming.”

Although the bill died in committee, Bankson promoted it to the National Association of Christian Policy Makers Conference in June. In a Facebook post, he wrote that it was “vital to get this important piece of legislation in front of lawmakers across the country.”

Property insurance

Bankson told WESH 2 News that he went to Tallahassee “to deal with insurance,” and, as a freshman legislator, went right into the governor’s special session that ended up bailing out insurance companies. But he noted during the forum that 10 insurers have committed to returning to Florida, and he pointed to $200 million in additional funding for the My Safe Florida Home program for free home wind mitigation inspections and retrofitting grants.

Ballot amendments

Asked about his position on Amendments 3 and 4 — recreational marijuana and abortion rights, respectively — during the WESH forum, Bankson said he was against both. He said he’s talked with Oregon and Colorado legislators who have told him that marijuana legalization there has resulted in detrimental outcomes. “I believe in personal liberty, but this is something that puts too many people at risk,” he said.

Bankson, who is staunchly anti-abortion, said the “biggest issue [with Amendment 4] is how it’s worded. It’s very deceptive and very concerning.” His concern is that it would “take away parental consent” and that the amendment “doesn’t define health professional or viability.”

Republicans have consistently made similar inaccurate claims about the amendment. The amendment clearly states that it “does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.” It also specifically refers to a woman’s “healthcare provider.” “Viability” in Florida and other states has historically meant up to about 24 weeks gestation.