Janelle Irwin Taylor
There were no big surprises Friday after the noon deadline to qualify for local races came and went.
Excluding judicial races, only Supervisor of Election Craig Latimer was elected without opposition.
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court race, which had been briefly thrown into upheaval in recent weeks as Sen. Tom Lee flirted with a run, is down to just two candidates, former Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner and School Board member Cindy Stuart. Republican D.C. Goutoufas redesignated his campaign and qualified for Property Appraiser.
Goutoufas’ last minute move means incumbent Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez will be on the ballot in November.
Chad Chronister will face former Sheriff’s detective Charles Boswell in the Republican Primary for Hillsborough County Sheriff. The winner will face Democrat Gary Pruitt, a former Tampa Police officer, and no-party affiliated Ronald McMullen. McMullen is running as an NPA, but is registered as a Democrat. He could’t run as a Democrat because he changed his affiliation after the deadline to do so for the 2020 election.
Former Hillsborough County School Board member April Griffin will face Tax Collector executive Nancy Milan in the Democratic primary for Tax Collector. The winner will face Republican TK Mathew in November.
Four candidates qualified for the Hillsborough County Commission District 1 race. Former Tampa City Council member Harry Cohen will face South Tampa business leader Jen McDonald in the Democratic primary. Tony Morejon ad Scott Levinson will battle in the Republican primary.
Six candidates and a write-in qualified in District 3, almost all Democrats. Transportation activist Rick Fernandez, former Tampa City Council members Frank Reddick and Thomas Scott, Gwen Myers and Sky White will all be on the Democratic ticket in August. The winner will face Republican Maura Cruz Lanz and write-in candidate Karen Clay in November.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman set up a competitive race in District 6 as she takes on her colleague, Pat Kemp. Murman is facing term limits in her current district and his hoping to unseat Kemp, a first term commissioner, to remain on the dais, albeit in a new seat.
School Board District 1 candidates include Nadia Combs, Steve Cona, Ben Greene and Bill Person. Alexandra Gilmore, Jennifer Hill, Mitch Thrower, Jessica Vaughn, Leo Haggerty and Rick Warrener are running in District 3.
School Board District 5 includes incumbent Tammy Shamburger, Elvis Piggot, Selena Ward and Henry Washington. Running in District 7 are incumbent Sally Harris, Lynn Gray, Jefferey Alex James Johnson and Angela Schroden.
