Pasco County educator Lisa Yeager to run for late County Commissioner’s seat

Image via Lisa Yeager campaign

Lisa Yeager, a conservative who previously served as the director of the Teen Parent Program for Pasco County Schools, has filed to run for Pasco County Commission in District 4.

She’s running to fill the remaining term of the late Commissioner Gary Bradford, who passed away last month after a battle with leukemia.

Yeager, a Republican, is the third candidate to file for the race. She joins fellow Republican Christina Fitzpatrick and Democrat Daniel Ackroyd-Isales in the race so far.

The candidates are running in a Special Election to be held concurrently with regularly scheduled 2024 Primary and General Elections.

“I believe that people deserve to have a fighter working for them every day in public office. Someone who will ask tough questions, who will say what they mean and do what they say,” Yeager said. “I have spent over 20 years involved in the local community and have strived through that involvement to make Pasco County a better place to live and work.”

In addition to her work leading the Teen Parent Program, Yeager is a strong advocate for technical education and workforce development, which she has advocated for as a SAC committee member for Marchman Technical College over her eight years of volunteer service with the school. She also previously worked as a preschool teacher and as a development officer at Pasco Hernando State College.

Yeager is also a volunteer for what she describes as “pro-family conservative causes,” which includes past sponsorship of the West Pasco Pregnancy Center, a faith-based organization that promotes alternatives to abortion.

She said she is running to boost public safety, among other priorities.

“I understand the importance of public safety in a growing county and how low crime rates are vital for growing families and thriving businesses,” Yeager said. “As the next County Commissioner, I will never stop fighting for what residents expect — safe streets, smarter and small government, and economic opportunity for all.”

Yeager will face Fitzpatrick — known in Pasco as “Fitzy” — in the GOP Primary. Fitzpatrick is a former County Commissioner who served two years prior to Bradford taking office. She sought re-election in 2022 after winning a Special Election in 2020, but lost to Bradford in a closed Primary, before Bradford went on to defeat a write-in candidate in the General Election. Now she’s running again.

None of the candidates have yet filed campaign finance reports. Both Ackroyd-Isales and Fitzpatrick filed for the race last week.