July 2026 — Page 3 of 3 — Neighborhood News

Get Ready To Vote In The Primary Election, Wesley Chapel!

In Addition To Rep. & Dem. Primaries, All Wesley Chapel Registered Voters Can Help Fill 3 School Board Seats Aug. 18!

Roughly six weeks after this issue lands in your mailbox, Primary Elections will be held throughout the State of Florida — on Tuesday, August 18.

Ho-hum, right?

Sure, it’s ho-hum if you only want Pasco County’s Board of County Commissioners to maintain the status quo, if you’re not interested in helping our county decide who should be elected to Pasco’s School Board and/or if you have no interest in helping determine who will run our state government.

But, for those of you who complain in every local social media group about rampant over-development, about all of the problems in our schools and about how the decisions being made at the state level affect your quality of life, Aug. 18 is your chance to start attempting to make a difference.

But, hurry! The deadline to register to vote in the Primary Election is Monday, July 20. The Early Voting Period for the Primary Election is from Saturday, August 8-Saturday, August 15.

Here are the Primary Election races that are up for grabs for Wesley Chapel’s voters:

U.S. Senate — Incumbent Republican Ashley Moody faces three Republican challengers (Neelam Taneja Perry, Ernest “Ernie” Rivera & Chris Gleason). Democrats will choose an opponent from Angie Nixon and Alex Vindman. No-party candidate Neil J. Gillespie will not be eligible for votes until the Nov. 3 General Election.

U.S. Representative — With Florida having now redrawn its Congressional boundaries, some Wesley Chapel voters are now in House District 12 (where Republican Congressman Gus Bilirakis is the incumbent), while other Wesley Chapel residents are still in House District 15, where Republican Laurel Lee is the incumbent. Neither Bilirakis nor Lee has a Primary opponent, but registered Democrats will choose an opponent for Bilirakis from Kimberly Overman and Darren McAuley, with no-party candidate Brandon Scrivener joining the fray in Nov.

Meanwhile, while Rep. Lee’s Dem. opponent will either be Christopher Irizarry or Robert People. Write-in candidate Angie Boone (whose name will not appear on the ballot) joins in Nov.

Governor & Lt. Governor — With current Gov. Ron DeSantis reaching his two-term limit, Republicans will choose their nominee on Aug. 18 to replace DeSantis from among eleven candidates, including front-running Congressman Byron Donalds (who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump), current Lieutenant Gov. Jay Collins and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner. There also will be a Democratic primary, where former Congressman David Jolly is the front-runner among six candidates. Jolly also is the only candidate from either party who has his running mate’s name — Gwen Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham — on the ballot with his name. The two major party nominees will be joined on the Nov. ballot by six no-party candidates, five write-in candidates and Libertarian Party of Florida nominee Scott Eckhard Jewett.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) — Incumbent CFO Blaise Ingoglia’s Republican Primary opponent is Frank William Collige. Democrats will choose the Rep. winner’s opponent from Earle Ford and Annette Taddeo.

Commissioner of Agriculture — Incumbent Wilton Simpson’s Republican Primary opponent is Matt “The Welder” Taylor. In Nov., the winner of that Primary will face write-in candidate Kyle “KC” Gibson and the winner of the Democratic Primary between Joey Mendoza Atkins and Donald A. “Don” Prichard.

Florida House District 54 — In the Republican Primary on Aug. 18, incumbent Randy Maggard faces local community activist and long-time firefighter Michael Pultorak, who is running for political office for the first time. With no Democratic or third-party opponent in Nov., the “Closed Primary” winner will face only write-in candidate Paul Bybee in the General Election, whose name will not appear on the ballot.

Circuit Court Judges — There also are two District 6 Circuit Court Judge seats being contested on Aug. 18 and both are Nonpartisan races, meaning all registered voters in Wesley Chapel are eligible to cast ballots for them: Group 39, between Elizabeth “Liz” Constantine and Stefen Diskey; and Group 44, between Oxalis Garcia and Elizabeth “Liz” Jack.

Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOC) — Although one of Wesley Chapel’s two County Commission districts — Dist. 2, where incumbent Republican Seth Weightman faces Democratic challenger Stephanie Vazquez — won’t be contested until Nov. 3, registered Republicans in Wesley Chapel can cast ballots on Aug. 18 in BOC Dist. 4 (see story on pg. 4), where incumbent Lisa Yeager faces first-time candidate Jonathan Deckard.

The winner of the seat won’t be officially decided, however, until Nov., because there will be a space on the ballot for write-in candidate Louie Rodriguez, even though his name won’t actually appear on the ballot, and I’m guessing the “trading” site Kalshi will offer odds on whether Rodriguez drops out of the race after the primary (as he did in 2022, when he was the write-in candidate for Dist. 2). If so, the winner of the Republican Primary will then be on the Nov. ballot unopposed, as Weightman was in 2022.

Pasco County School Board — Three seats are up for grabs, as two incumbents — Al Hernandez in Wesley Chapel’s Dist. 1 and long-time Dist. 3 incumbent Cynthia Armstrong — have opted to not seek reelection, while Dist. 5 incumbent Megan Harding will be opposed by first-time candidate Michelle Mandarin. Here are the other School Board candidates on the Aug. 18 ballot:

Dist. 1 — We also will preview the District 4 Pasco County Commission & District 1 Pasco School Board races over the next couple of days.

Dist. 3 — In the crowded field for Dist. 3, candidate Matt Geiger lost his bid to unseat Armstrong four years ago. None of the other candidates — Sean O’Flannery, who has previously run for the Pinellas County School Board; Dr. Kirk Phillips, who ran for the Republican nomination against incumbent Brad Yeager for the Florida House Dist. 56 seat in 2024; Erin Stroupe and Mollyana Ward — has run for the Pasco School Board before. In fact, neither Stroupe nor Ward has run for any political office previously, but Pasco Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Legg has endorsed Ward in Dist. 3.

I’m aware that Pasco’s voter turnout is historically pretty low for these Primary Elections — 24.88% in 2022 and 15.88% in 2024 — but please exercise your right to vote this year!

Eight Of 11 New Tampa Schools Earn ‘A’ Grades

Eight of New Tampa’s eleven Hillsborough County public schools have earned “A” grades from the Florida Department of Education (DoE) this year, including Tampa Palms Elementary, which improved from the “B” it received in 2025.

Only three schools in New Tampa received either a “B” or a “C” grade, including Turner-Bartels K-8 School, which dropped from an “A” in 2025 to a “B” this year. Wharton High also received a “B,” after earning a “C” in both 2024 and 2025, and Freedom High received a “C” again this year.

Overall, the Hillsborough School District received its first-ever “A” grade from the Florida DoE, after earning a “B” each of the last two years.

The Neighborhood News applauds the excellence of our New Tampa schools.

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All Of Wesley Chapel’s Public & Charter Schools Earn Outstanding School Grades!

Congratulations to all 21 public and charter schools located in Wesley Chapel, none of which earned lower than a “B” grade from the Florida Department of Education (DoE) for 2026, and a record 18 of those schools earned “A” grades!

Perhaps the biggest news was that New River Elementary improved its grade from a “D” last year to an “A” this year, although seven other schools — Double Branch, Veterans & Wiregrass elementary schools, Cypress Creek and Weightman middle schools, Innovation Preparatory Academy and Wesley Chapel High all improved from a “B” to an “A,” and Watergrass Elementary improved from a “C” to a “B.”

Also, not one school located in Wesley Chapel received a lower grade this year than last, and overall, the Pasco School District received its first-ever “A” grade from the Florida DoE.

“This achievement reflects the incredible dedication of our teachers, support staff, administrators, students and families,” said Pasco Superintendent of Schools D. John Legg in a statement released by the District.

The Neighborhood News applauds the entire Pasco School District’s improvement and the amazing achievements of all 21 public and charter schools located in Wesley Chapel.

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Coach Gruden Helps Raise Thousands For ‘Hockey Heals 22’

On June 13-14, former Tampa Bay Bucs head football coach Jon Gruden and former Tampa Bay Lightning player (and current TV commentator) Ryan Malone were among the celebrities on hand at AdventHealth Center Ice’s annual “Hockey Heals 22” event. Hockey Heals 22 raises critical awareness locally of the 22 military veterans who lose their lives each day to suicide, and provides some financial support for suicide prevention programs, with 22 consecutive hours of hockey at AdventHealth Center Ice. The event’s opening ceremonies were hosted by Fox 13 anchor/reporter Alyse Zwick and local sports media personality J.P. Peterson, the host of “Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Night Live.”

Coach Gruden was on one of the benches for the first game following the very moving opening ceremonies, which included honoring a dozen families who have lost loved ones to veteran suicide. Many of the family members of the fallen vets and other former NHL players (including former Lightning goalie Mathieu Garon) also played for the teams that rotated on and off the ice for the 22-hour marathon.

Event coordinator Lara Lopez says, “Portions of the proceeds from the Hockey Heals 22 event will benefit the Black Dagger Military Hunt Club, Operation Healing Forces and the Lightning Warriors Hockey Program. Money was raised through a silent auction, raffles, merchandise sales and sponsorships. We don’t yet have all the totals of the funds raised from this year’s event, but our treasurer is working hard to compile them.” The Black Dagger Club and Operating Healing Forces each received $5,000 checks from the Lightning Warriors program during the opening ceremonies.

The Neighborhood News applauds everyone involved in Hockey Heals 22, which is such an important event that takes place in our community. For more information about “Hockey Heals 22,” visit LightningWarriorsHockey.org.