Shawn Harrison Takes On Rep. Mark Danish For Dist. 63 Seat In November

By Matt Wiley

Longtime New Tampa resident Shawn Harrison (R-New Tampa) wants his seat back in Tallahassee and is on the ballot for State Representative for District 63, which includes the New Tampa area. Harrison squares off against a familiar foe, incumbent Dist. 63 Rep. Mark Danish (D-New Tampa), who unseated Harrison in November 2012.

A former Tampa City Councilman who also has spent time serving as the chair of both the Tampa Palms Community Development District and the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Harrison also is the founder of Shawn Harrison Associates, a Tampa law firm. However, he says he’s ready to continue helping to write legislation, rather than just practicing law.

“I feel like I still have something to offer my community from up in Tallahassee,” Harrison says. “My ‘rookie’ term, I was able to get 10 bills passed, as well as a (Florida) constitutional amendment.”

The amendment that Harrison originally filed and helped pass (CS/HJR 93) provides a property tax exemption for the surviving spouses of members of the U.S. military and first responders (police and firefighters) killed in the line of duty.

Harrison thinks the biggest issue right now for New Tampa is jobs.

“We’ve got to work on job creation,” he explains. “We’ve got graduating high school seniors going off to college and graduating University of South Florida students worried about jobs and the economy. There’s a lot of angst out there among our young people who wonder what kind of career they’ll be able to have (locally and even statewide).”

Harrison explains that he’d like to take another look at one of the bills (HB 297) he worked on during his first term. His “School to Work” bills was proposed to provide tax incentives for businesses that create apprenticeship opportunities for post-secondary education students. The students would get college credit for their work in the apprenticeship and the business would receive a tax break for bringing in the college students.

“I’d like to get some new, expert opinions about the bill and update it,” he explains.  

Harrison says that so far, his campaign is going well and the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office reports that more than $170,000 has been raised for it.

“We’re working very hard,” Harrison says. “The campaign is going well. But, it will be up to the voters to decide in November.”

For more information, please visit ShawnHarrison.com.

Danish Defends Dist. 63 Seat

In 2012, Benito Middle School science teacher and Arbor Greene resident Mark Danish upset Harrison and took the District 63 seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Danish says that he hopes to keep his seat in November.

“I have a lot of unfinished business (in Tallahassee),” Danish says. “I believe I got a lot accomplished in my first two years, and I think that there is more that I can do.”

So far, Danish has raised more than $138,000 for his campaign to remain the Florida Representative for the New Tampa area. Now a former teacher, he says that one of his main focuses if reelected will remain on education. 

“I want to increase funding for education,” Rep. Danish explains. “We haven’t yet restored funding to the level it was at in 2007.” 

Having served on the State House’s Education Committee, in June Danish said that this year’s state budget will spend $6,937 per student throughout Florida’s public school system. Although that figure is better than last year, he said that before the economy fell apart in 2007-08, the state was spending more than $7,100 per student. But, that’s not the only aspect of education for which he’ll be fighting, he says.

“We need to put more focus on public (K-12) schools,” Rep. Danish explains. “We’ve been so focused on charter schools that we’re letting our public schools fall apart.”

He adds that he plans to build upon the bills that he helped pass during the most recent legislative session. The one he is most proud of is part of HB 7005, a package of transportation bills that included Rep. Danish’s push for a law that requires attendants at self-serve gas stations to assist disabled customers. The law began as an ordinance right here in Hillsborough County, he says.

Rep. Danish says that he also plans to vote against any laws that would allow mining for natural gas (“fracking”) in the Florida Everglades, a topic he says he expects will come up this next session, which begins March 3, 2015.

“I feel I represent the people of this community very well,” he says.

For more information, please visit MarkDanish.com.