Brandi Gabbard, Barclay Harless clash over PACs in St. Pete Council race

A relatively genteel St. Petersburg City Council race between banker Barclay Harless and Realtor Brandi Gabbard broke out into verbal warfare Friday over the issue of political advocacy.

The war of words in the District 2 race was over money the Pinellas County Realtors Association is putting behind Gabbard’s campaign.

For years, the 41-year-old Gabbard, a real estate broker with Smith and Associates, has been involved with the Pinellas Realtors Organization. That group has a political action committee (PAC) which has spent thousands of dollars on mailers advocating her candidacy.

That’s legal, but Harless says it’s wrong.

“I’ve seen two Realtor PAC mailing pieces that have hit,” Harless said. “We don’t know how many tens of thousands of dollars of outside money is coming in.”

The St. Petersburg City Council recently passed an ordinance that would limit individual campaign contributions to $5,000 from political action committees. The measure is not scheduled to go into effect until next January.

Harless said that the issue goes to the integrity of government and the independence of the city council. He then went on to say that fifty-five percent of Gabbard’s campaign contributions have come from realtors or people involved with real estate, contrasting that with his own donations, which he said were spread out from different businesses and groups throughout the city.

The 32-year-old Harless does not have a PAC behind him. He recently made a vow not to accept any contributions from any political organization beyond the legal limit of $1,000, challenging Gabbard to do the same, knowing Realtors were likely to begin spending money on her behalf.

Earlier, she resisted the offer, and doubled down on it again Friday at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club meeting at the St. Pete Yacht Club (moderated by this reporter).

“My integrity would never be compromised based on any contribution that would ever be given to me,” Gabbard said, adding she is of her own mind and not beholden to anyone.

Gabbard was proud of the Realtors’ support: “We fight for property rights, we fight for homeownership, we fight for so many issues; I will never be ashamed of that.”

During the forum’s Q&A session, Team Gabbard continued to play offense on the issue. 

Joe Farrell, the director of governmental affairs for the Pinellas Realtors, and Gregory Wilson, Gabbard’s political consultant, took advantage of the opportunity to challenge Harless.

Farrell said that Harless had come before the Realtors and circled “yes” on a questionnaire asking if the group endorsed him would he accept PAC support.

What had changed since then, Farrell wondered.

Harless responded that he had accepted PAC support from other groups, but only to the maximum of $1,000. Tens of thousands of dollars coming into the community “keeps people from having integrity and being independent-minded,” he said.

Gabbard challenged that comment.

“I have incredible integrity,” she said, “and for my opponent to sit here and say that any sort of support that is legal and a community is willing to give you impugns your integrity, to me is a real slam.”

Gabbard followed up by asking if there would even be a conversation if a PAC were willing to pay money to advocate on Harless’s behalf.

A variation of that question later came from Wilson, who wondered if it was such an important issue for Harless, why didn’t he start out the campaign with such a pledge?

Harless said he appreciated the question, but returned to his default mode — saying how serious he takes the issue of money in politics: “It doesn’t just impact the election prior … It impacts the policy-making the election occurs.”

The legal staff with city of St. Petersburg strongly advocated the council reject the measure, pointing out that they were likely to be sued in court. Legal fees could rise into the millions of dollars, they said.

In debates, both candidates had opposed the measure, with Gabbard admitting at a candidates forum last weekend that the arguments for the measure made at the city council meeting were so compelling she “could have been swayed.”

When the moderator noted that was a change from her earlier position, she disputed it.

“I could have been swayed,” she clarified.

“My concern with the actual ordinance itself is the legal ramifications of it, she said. “We have a lot of things to pay for in this city, and the thought of us potentially having $2-4 million lawsuits that could come out of this, I don’t see where that is prudent of our taxpayers dollars to actually be spending it to fight a fight that, honestly, has been lost in many other communities in the past.”

Gabbard continued: “I can’t say 100 percent that I would have changed my vote on that dais.”

Both candidates are Democrats in what is officially a nonpartisan race, and each have received plenty of endorsements.

Harless was endorsed (or “officially recommended”) by the Tampa Bay Times and by Councilman Jim Kennedy, who occupied the District 2 seat for the past decade.

Gabbard touts the backing of Suncoast Police Benevolent Association.

District 2 encompasses the Gateway/north of Gandy area, but (as in the other two city council races on the ballot) the entire city gets to weigh in Nov. 7.