 When incumbent State Representative Nancy C. Detert was unable to seek re-election in 2006 due to term limits, Holder ran in the Republican primary to succeed her in the 70th District, which included most of western Sarasota County, stretching from Englewood to Siesta Key, and faced Rory Dubin, Jon Kleiber, and Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder.He spent nearly $400,000 of his own money on advertising, "leading some people to accuse Holder...of trying to buy the office and of ignorance of local issues.