Tag: election

No Matter Which Party You Prefer, Please Vote In The August 20 Primary Election!

No matter which party or candidate you support, there can be little doubt that U.S. Vice President’s Kamala Harris suddenly seeming to be the new Democratic candidate for president has made the Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 5, at least more interesting, as well as more controversial.

To be honest, right now I’m much more interested in what happens with our local and state elections — both on Nov. 5 and on Tuesday, August 20 — also known as Primary Election Day.

No, the ballots aren’t nearly as full as they will be for the General Election and there’s no State Constitutional or local Amendments on the Aug. 20 ballot (something else to be thankful for), but there are several important local and two national offices being contested on Primary Day.

For example, incumbent U.S. Senator (and former Florida Governor) Rick Scott faces two Republican challengers — John S. Columbus and Keith Gross — in the primary, with the winner squaring off against the winner of the four-way Democratic primary between Stanley Campbell, Rod Joseph, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Brian Rush.

Meanwhile, incumbent District 15 U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, who has an office in Tampa Palms, is facing two Republican opponents on Aug. 20 — Jennifer Barbosa and James Judge. The winner of the Primary will face outgoing Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp, who is finishing the second of two four-year terms on the Commission, on Nov. 5. Kemp does not face a Primary opponent.

Primary day will include races for two Pasco County Commission seats and one seat on the Pasco School Board (where Dist. 4 incumbent Alison Crumbley faces history teacher Jessica Wright).

Dist. 1 and 2 commissioners Ron Oakley and Seth Weightman — the two districts that include Wesley Chapel — do not face primary challenges and Weightman isn’t on the ballot in November, either. Oakley will face Lisa Moretti, who lists Dade City as her address (as does Oakley), on Nov. 5. Moretti has no party affiliation.

In District 5, which mainly includes Port Richey and Hudson, incumbent Jack Mariano faces Spring Hill resident Gina Finocchiaro on Aug. 20, and the winner will still face opposition in November from Hudson resident Thomas A. Celotto, who is running with no party affiliation.

The most interesting local race on Aug. 20 is between former Commissioner Christina “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick, current Commissioner Lisa Yeager (who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the seat vacated after the passing of Comm. Gary Bradford in May of this year) and the county’s former community services director Gabriel “Gabe” Popadopoulos. The most curious thing about this race is that the winner will serve only a two-year term (as there is no Democratic or other candidate), since Bradford would not have faced a challenge for his now-vacant seat until 2026.

Please also note that all Pasco residents are able to cast ballots in all County Commission and School Board races, regardless of which of the five districts the candidates represent.

Here Are The Races On The Aug. 20 Ballot

Republican Primary

U.S. Senator

John S. Columbus

Keith Gross

Rick Scott (Incumbent, or “I”)

Representative in Congress – District 15

Jennifer Barbosa

James Judge

Laurel Lee (I)

Superintendent of Schools

John Legg

Michelle Mandarin

County Commissioner – District 4

Christina “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick

Gabriel “Gabe” Popadopoulos

Lisa Yeager (*)

* – Appointed to finish term of the

late incumbent Gary Bradford

County Commissioner – District 5

Gina Finocchiaro

Jack Mariano (I)

State Committeeman

Shawn Foster (I)

Stephan Hassler

David Wallis

State Committeewoman

Julia Aguayo de Hassler

Stephanie Pontlitz

Rebecca Yuengling

Democratic Primary

U.S. Senator

Stanley Campbell

Rod Joseph

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell

Brian Rush

Universal Primary

Circuit Judge – 6th Circuit, Group 9

Nicole Pearlman

Kate Spurlock

Circuit Judge – 6th Circuit, Group 14

Cornelius Christopher Demps

Jenn Dubbeld

Nick Fiorentino

School Board Member – District 4

Alison Crumbley (I)

Jessica Wright

Do You Plan To Vote On (Or Before) August 20? Here’s Why You Should!

Every Presidential Election year, a lot of people who never vote otherwise head to the ballot box (or, these days, their mailbox) to cast a ballot for the first time in four years on the first Tuesday of November, only to never cast another vote for another four years.

And, it seems, that even though there are always candidates and state and local amendments to vote for in November, the vast majority of residents in most communities don’t bother to find out anything about those candidates or ballot measures because they have no intention of voting in a November election in a non-presidential year. Even fewer cast ballots in August Primary Elections.

And yes, even fewer City of Tampa residents cast ballots in Tampa’s Municipal Elections in March of odd-numbered years.

The thing that boggles my mind is that although those elected to serve in the White House and Congress are important, they honestly have a lot less to do with most of our day-to-day lives than those who serve in the State Legislature, County Commission, School Board and City Council. Most of us can’t call the President for any reason, nor can we regularly attend a session of Congress, but you can get your state and local elected officials on the phone to express your opinion, ask for help on an issue affecting you or your family and regularly attend County Commission, School Board and City Council meetings to have your opinions heard on roads, parks and development projects, whether in your own backyard or that affect the entire city, county or school district. And yes, a trip to Tallahassee to speak your mind to your Florida legislators is a lot easier than flying up to Washington, DC, and being anything other than a spectator.

But, even though I’ve been saying the same thing in these pages for a little more than 30 years now, all I still hear people talking about when they discuss politics are the “orange guy” who used to be president and the “doddering old man” who holds that office now. And, anytime I ask people if they plan to vote in August, when School Board members and County Commissioners facing a primary opponent but no opposition party opponent in November are elected, the familiar — and painful — refrain is, “I only vote in the big elections.” To which my only response, after three decades of the same thing being said, is now just “Yeesh.”

So, why do I even bother to keep trying? Because I still believe that if I can convince even one person who otherwise wouldn’t have cast a vote in these important local elections, the effort is still worth it.

To that end, while I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind about voting in the Primary Election on Tuesday, August 20, I do hope that some of you will take a look at the candidates and issues on the ballot and decide to take five minutes of your time — whether you vote by mail, vote early at the New Tampa Regional Library or walk into your nearby polling place on Aug. 20 — and get involved in the local political scene, rather than just complain about it.

Anyway, I’m off my soapbox, but here are some of the races that either will be determined or at least partially determined in the Primary Election:

Clerk of Circuit Court — Former County Commissioner and State Representative (and Tampa Palms resident) Victor Crist faces off against retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Melony Williams in the Republican primary to see who faces Democratic incumbent — and former School Board member — Cindy Stuart.

County Commissioner, District 2 — Incumbent Ken Hagan, who has served on the Commission since 2002, faces a Republican primary opponent in land use activist and Odessa resident Melissa Nordbeck for the right to face Democratic candidate and New Tampa resident Patricia Altagracia Alonzo in November.

County Commissioner, District 6 — Long-time New Tampa resident and activist Dr. Jim Davison faces long-time Hillsborough firefighter Chris Boles in the Republican primary for this countywide seat. In November, the winner will face the winner of Sean Shaw vs. Joseph Ryan Taylor in the Democratic primary.

School Board Member, District 3 — Incumbent and Tampa Palms resident Jessica Vaughn, a former classroom and substitute teacher, faces Myosha Powell in this non-partisan race (meaning that it is open to voters in all parties). Powell’s website says her mission “is to be the parents’ ally.”

School Board Member, District 7 — Incumbent and career educator Lynn Gray faces three challengers in middle school teacher Karen Bendorf, Johnny “Principal” Bush (who led Robinson and Plant high schools) and architectural designer Jen Flebotte in this District-wide non-partisan election.

U.S. Senator — Republican incumbent Rick Scott faces two primary opponents in August — John S. Columbus and Keith Gross. The Democratic primary includes former Congresswoman Debbie Mucasel-Powell, former Congressman Alan Grayson, Stanley Campbell, Joseph Rod and Brian Rush.

U.S. Congress, District 15 — Incumbent Republican Laurel Lee faces Jennifer Barbosa and James Judge in an August primary. The winner faces former Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Hillsborough State Attorney — Andrew Warren, who was removed from this office by Gov. DeSantis, faces off against Tampa lawyer Elizabeth Martinez for the Democratic nomination. The winner faces Warren’s DeSantis-appointed Republican replacement, former Hillsborough judge Suzy Lopez.

Also, although the race won’t be decided until November 5, incumbent Dist. 67 Democratic State Rep. and House Minority leader Fentrice Driskell faces a rematch against Republican candidate Lt. Col. Lisette Bonano, a New Tampa resident.

Here are some important dates coming up:

Deadline to Register to Vote in Primary Election or Change Party Affiliation: Monday, July 22

Early Voting Dates for the Primary Election: Monday, August 5-Sunday, August 18

Primary Election Day: Tuesday, August 20, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

ballot election Municipal Elections New Tampa voting

New Tampa Will Help Decide City Council Runoffs Apr. 25!

In March, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor easily defeated a write-in opponent and New Tampa’s District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera was re-elected without opposition to serve four more years, but that doesn’t mean that New Tampa residents have no reason to go to the polls for the City of Tampa Runoff Election on Tuesday, April 25.

In fact, Viera says that much more important than who you vote for is that you need to get out and vote. He says that no matter how hard he is willing to fight on City Council to fulfill — and fund —New Tampa’s needs, our community’s usually lower-than-the-rest-of-the-city voter turnout makes it harder for him to get things done.

“New Tampa has traditionally been considered somewhat apathetic when it comes to voting and that does make it harder for me to get other Council members to support the needs of this community.”

The numbers bear out Viera’s claims of voter apathy. In the 2019 Municipal Election, which included a hotly contested race for Mayor, the citywide turnout was 20.56%, but in New Tampa’s 17 precincts, it was only 16.8%. In the Runoff Election in Apr. 2019, which included the mayoral runoff won by Mayor Castor over David Straz, the turnout was even higher — 23.2% citywide and a reasonable 18.5% across New Tampa’s 17 precincts.

In this year’s Municipal Election, where Castor faced only write-in candidate (and New Tampa resident) Belinda Noah (whose name did not appear on the ballot), the citywide turnout was only 13.65%, but the turnout in New Tampa’s 21 precincts was less than half of that, at only 6.5%.

Viera says that despite the fact that there are only three citywide City Council seats — Districts 1, 2 and 3 (plus the District 6 runoff between current Dist. 2 Council member Charlie Miranda and Hoyt Prindle) — being contested at this year’s Runoff Election, he expects a citywide turnout of about 12%.

Viera says it would be great if New Tampa could beat that percentage at the runoff, and he says everyone should check out the campaign websites and social media pages of each of the six candidates shown on this page and cast votes for those who seem to best align with their own political philosophies.

Here’s a quick rundown of the three races in which New Tampa is eligible to vote:

District 1 — Dr. Sonja P. Brookins vs. Alan Clendenin

Dr. Brookins, a long-time educator, has served two years as an elected supervisor with the Hillsborough Soil & Water Conservation District and has been endorsed by the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Tampa Bay.

Clendenin, who has served in multiple positions for Democratic committees (including first vice chair of the Florida Democratic Party), was a long-time air traffic control professional. He has been endorsed by the Tampa Bay Times, La Gaceta and Creative Loafing newspapers, the Tampa Police Benevolent Assn. and Tampa Firefighters 754 union, New Tampa’s State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the Sierra Club and LGBTQ Victory Fund.

District 2 — Robin Lockett vs. Guido Maniscalco

Lockett is the former president of the Hillsborough Democratic Black Caucus who has been a regular advocate for vulnerable people at City Council meetings, as well as an organizer with the Florida Rising progressive social advocacy group. She has been endorsed by Creative Loafing.

Maniscalco, the two-term Dist. 6 Council member (and current vice chair) who is running in Dist. 2 because of term limits, has been endorsed by the Tampa Bay Times, the Greater Tampa Realtors, Tampa Firefighters 754, the Sierra Club and Equality Florida.

*City of Tampa City Council Runoff Election* District 3 Candidates *Janet Cruz (left) vs. Lynn Hurtak (right) in District 3.*

District 3 — Janet Cruz vs. Lynn Hurtak

Cruz, the former State Sen. who lost a tough race to Jay Collins in Nov., has been endorsed by the Tampa Bay Times, Mayor Castor and former Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Hurtak, the Dist. 3 incumbent, has been endorsed by Creative Loafing, La Gaceta, Florida LGBTQ+, Florida Rising, the Tampa Bay Progressive Caucus and Muslims for Democracy & Fairness.

Alan Clendenin City Council Dr. Sonja P. Brookins election Guido Maniscalco Janet Cruz Lynn Hurtak New Tampa Robin Lockettt runoff Tampa City Council

Weightman, Teachers Big Winners On Primary Night

As far as surprises go, Pasco County didn’t have many (if any) on Primary Election night (Aug. 23).

But, the Wesley Chapel area most likely has a new commissioner lined up to replace the departing Mike Moore in District 2. Buoyed by the backing of Moore and other well-known local Republicans, Seth Weightman coasted to an easy win over opponents Christie Zimmer and Troy Stevenson.

Weightman picked up 48.9 percent of the vote, while fellow Republicans Zimmer (27.1 percent) and Stevenson (24 percent) basically split the rest.

A regional manager for waste-hauling company Republic Services, Weightman was backed by county tax collector Mike Fasano, former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford and current Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (who won the GOP nomination for Florida Secretary of Agriculture and will face Democratic nominee Naomi Esther Blemur in the General Election on Nov. 8).

Only registered Republicans voted in the two County Commission primaries. If only Republicans had entered the races, the primaries could have decided the elections, as voters of all parties would have been allowed to cast ballots.

But, Louie Rodriguez entered the Dist. 2 race as a write-in candidate with no party affiliation, which closed the primary to only Republican voters.

On Nov. 8, Weightman and Rodriguez will “run” against each other.

In Dist. 4, challenger Gary Bradford was accused of employing the same closed primary strategy when he defeated incumbent Christina Fitzpatrick 43.9-37.7 percent, avenging his loss for the same seat in 2020.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Bradford acknowledged that a friend of his, Cory Patterson, filed as a write-in candidate in order to close the primary to Republicans only.

As the Times noted, Patterson, who has donated to Bradford’s campaign and has a Bradford campaign sign in his yard, will “run” against his friend on Nov. 8.

Only about 1 in 4 (24.8 percent)registered voters in Pasco County cast ballots in the 2022 Primary Election. However, that was still up from just 21 percent for the midterm Primary Election in 2020.

Meanwhile, there were three Pasco School Board seats up for grabs on Aug. 23. In Dist. 1, which includes all of Wesley Chapel, Al Hernandez (44.8 percent) and James Washington (31.5) were the top two vote-getters of the three candidates. Since Hernandez failed to pass the 50 percent threshold, he and Washington will square off in November to determine who replaces retiring Allen Altman, the Dist. 1 member since 2006.

Cynthia Armstrong edged Matthew Geiger by 2,159 votes on Election Day, but by then, had already built a massive 13,000-vote advantage via mail-in ballots, to hold on to her Dist. 3 seat with 58 percent of the vote. Megan Harding retained her Dist. 5 seat with 71 percent of ballots cast.

In other races, Dist. 12 U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis easily won his primary with 84 percent of the vote. His 33,883 votes were more than five times the combined amount of his four challengers, who received roughly 6,000 votes total. Bilirakis is in a safe Republican district and is expected to easily win re-election in November against Democrat Kimberly Walker and Charles Smith, who has no party affiliation.

And, in one of the more interesting votes of the night, Pasco’s millage referendum to raise funds to increase teacher salaries easily passed (59-41%), even though a similar measure narrowly failed in neighboring Hillsborough County.

In Pasco, registered Republicans, generally advocates of lower taxes and less spending, outnumber Democrats 165,856 to 114,335. But, in Hillsborough, which has more registered Democrats, its millage referendum failed in a vote so close a recount was ordered.

election

Corley Says 2020 Vote Smoother Than Hoped

Despite worries nationwide about the voting process in 2020, due to taking place in the middle of a pandemic and concerns raised by President Trump about the validity of mail-in votes, Pasco’s Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley said the county’s efforts this past election were about as smooth as could be.

“Overall, it exceeded my wildest expectations,” Corley said.

Roughly 304,000 votes were cast in Pasco County, including 302,621 votes for president. President Donald Trump received 179,621 votes, or 59.4 percent, while President-elect Joe Biden received 119,073, or 39.4 percent.

Nationally, however, Biden defeated Trump by more than six million votes and in the Electoral College 306-232.

The 304,000 votes cast in Pasco represented 78 percent of the eligible voters, far exceeding 2016’s totals of 244,950 ballots cast and a 73-percent turnout.

Despite the record-setting numbers, Corley said the ability to secure six gymnasiums countywide for early voting and the influx of mail-in votes prevented some of the 3-4 hour long waits in line he feared beforehand.

In fact, only 65,000 votes (21% of all ballots cast) were cast on Nov. 3. Twice that number, 113,000, were cast during early voting, and more than 121,000 were mail-in votes, compared to 68,178 in 2016.

“The mail-in votes were a great safety valve and allowed for the in-person voting to be less crowded,” Corley said.

Corley added that mail-in voting has been growing in popularity since Florida started it in 2002, “but this year it was on steroids because of the pandemic.”

Despite President Trump’s disinformation campaign against mail-in voting (except in Florida, where he said it was okay), Corley thinks the mail-in numbers will only grow in the future.

“It got politicized, and that is very unfortunate,” he said.

Not surprisingly, Pasco County remained red, as Republican candidates went 9-0 in the vote, including Gus Bilirakis (U.S. Rep., Cong. Dist. 12), Danny Burgess (State Sen. Dist. 20), Randy Maggard (State Rep. Dist. 38), Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning and County Commissioners Jack Mariano and Kathryn Starkey.

For complete Pasco County 2020 General Election results, visit PascoVotes.org. — JCC

2020 2020 election election