Kelly Hayes
Florida House candidate Lindsay Cross has re-filed her campaign to run for state House District 60, shifting her campaign to align with the new state district map. Cross was previously filed to run for House District 68.
The new HD 60 covers the nearly the same area as HD 68 did, extending to northern parts of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park. Cross is seeking the seat currently held by Rep. Ben Diamond, who is not running for reelection to instead seek the Democratic nomination for Florida’s 13th Congressional District.
Cross, who works as an environmental scientist, was the first candidate to enter the HD 68 race to replace Diamond. She has alreaady earned endorsements from several Pinellas County Democrats, including former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, Pinellas County Commissioner Pat Gerard and Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson.
Cross is so far the only Democrat in the HD 60 race, which also includes Republicans Jarib Figueredo, who previously ran an unsuccessful St. Pete City Council campaign, and Jeremy Michael Brown.
Cross, who works as the government relations director for Florida Conservation Voters, previously ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Jeff Brandes for Senate District 24. She lost to Brandes in 2018 with just 46% of the vote. While her loss came as little surprise in the red-leaning district, she performed better than some might have expected.
After getting an early start in the race, Cross has a large war chest — she’s so far managed to raise over $140,000 this campaign cycle between her campaign and affiliated political committee, Moving Pinellas Forward. In March alone, Cross’ campaign collected $10,347.
As she realigns her campaign, she’ll have about $133,750 cash on hand, giving her a big funding boost.
Her Republican opponents have so far not come near Cross’ funding levels, with Brown collecting $30 in March and Figueredo not reporting any fundraising since entering the race near the end of March.
