Advancing to the general election, Drake faced John McDaniel, the Democratic nominee and the Sheriff of Jackson County for nearly thirty years.

Despite the district's strong conservative lean, McDaniel was heralded by the Florida Democratic Party as a top-tier candidate in the area.

[1] However, the district stayed true to its lean, and Drake won his first term in the legislature in a landslide, receiving 60% of the vote to McDaniel's 40%.

During his second term in the legislature, Drake introduced legislation that would reform capital punishment in the state by replacing lethal injection with the electric chair or firing squad.

Every time there is a warranted execution that is about to take place, some man or woman is standing on a corner holding a sign, yelling and screaming for humane treatment.