J.D. Alexander, who has held the seat for six years and is running for a final four-year term, is a 49-year-old Republican from Lake Wales. He is a grandson of the late Ben Hill Griffin, the Frostproof citrus baron. Still connected to the family empire, Alexander's net worth is $11.1 million.

Challenging Alexander is political newcomer Scott K. Thompson, 42, of Winter Haven. The Democrat is a grandson of the founder of Thompson Fruit Co. in Winter Haven. He has owned groves and related research-and-development ventures. Thompson is a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker in Winter Haven.

District 17 covers the heart of Florida citrus land. Within its boundaries are the southern half of Polk County, all of Hardee and Highlands counties, and much of DeSoto, Glades, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.

Besides citrus, the candidates share education as a major interest.

Thompson's wife is a schoolteacher. "I see it firsthand, what they go through on a day-to-day basis," he told The Ledger's Editorial Board, adding "Those children are our future." Education is "tremendously underfunded," Thompson said. He opposes school vouchers.

Asked about the effect of Amendment 1, a limitation on property taxation by local government, passed by voters in January, Thompson said: "The budget cuts really hurt. There's no income stream to replace those cuts." He added, "Mandated cuts, I believe there should be some sort of funding source behind it."

Asked to suggest a funding source, Thompson said, "That's one of those things that's going to wait until after we get up there in Tallahassee."

While Thompson is smart, personable and projects a strong affinity for his native Polk County, his wait-till-we-get-there plea for this issue and too many others shows that he is not prepared to represent District 17. Another symptom of being ill-prepared was the five-day-late filing of his campaign-finance report, due Oct. 17. On Monday, the state fined him $400.

During the three-week reporting period, Thompson received $1,600 in contributions while Alexander received $120,943. Alexander's total for the election so far is $479,540, a record amount for the district. Indeed, contributions to Alexander create a concern because of the number of contributions from lobbyists and others outside the district.

Alexander approaches education from a different perspective than Thompson, based on the premise that "Education is the principal means that we have of helping folks improve their lives in our region's economy." To do so, he told the Editorial Board: "I've fought to maintain as strong a budget for education as we possibly can. … I certainly would like to do more, particularly for our universities. I think they're a critical component of our long-term economic growth."

Alexander's most notable effort on education was shepherding through the Senate the relocation of the University of South Florida campus in Lakeland to a large, donated site at the eastern intersection of Interstate 4 and Polk Parkway. The effort failed to gain necessary matching funds from the state in 2007. The funding fell to a veto from Gov. Charlie Crist.

This year, Alexander - with the support of Polk County, the city of Lakeland and the USF leadership - garnered support from Crist early in the annual legislative session and pushed the project through to funding success. The former branch campus is now a semiautonomous university called USF Polytechnic.

Polk Community College is facing a similar situation. PCC, which is also in the process of becoming a four-year college, has received a $12 million donation of land for a new campus on the east side of Bartow. As with the USF campus, the donation requires matching state funds. Although the PCC project was before the Legislature this year, it was overshadowed by USF Polytechnic and was not funded. Alexander says procuring funding for the new college campus is a priority for 2009. "That $12 million match is, I think, very important to establishing the Bartow campus."

As he learned in his USF Polytechnic efforts, strength can be found by working within a supportive group. During these austere times, it is important to have strong senators and representatives representing Polk County in Tallahassee, but also for that delegation to put aside differences and work together as a powerful-and-united force.

With such cooperation in mind, Alexander's vision of expanding education to support the region's economy, and his understanding of state government, make him the clear choice in this race.

The Ledger recommends J.D. Alexander, state senator, District 17.

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