Janelle Irwin Taylor
Clearwater City Council member Mike Mannino is endorsing Ed Montanari for House District 60.
Montanari, a Republican who currently serves on the St. Petersburg City Council, is challenging Democratic incumbent Lindsay Cross for the St. Pete-based seat.
“I am proud to endorse Ed Montanari for State Representative,” Mannino said. “Ed is an effective leader who voters can trust to stay focused on the critical issues facing our community, such as flooding, affordability, and the property insurance crisis. I’m excited to support Ed’s campaign and help give Pinellas County a proven conservative voice in the Florida House.”
Mannino is a new Clearwater City Council member, cruising to victory as part of what turned out to be a red wave in the city earlier this year. Mannino bested two challengers for the open race to replace Kathleen Beckman, who left office to run instead for Mayor, a race the registered Democrat lost to Republican Bruce Rector. While races for Clearwater City Council and Mayor were statutorily nonpartisan, Republicans swept the races.
Republicans are hoping to ride trends that have been favoring the GOP in recent months and years to victory in historically blue HD 60.
“I am thankful for Council Member Mannino’s endorsement,” Montanari said. “The outpouring of support from state and local leaders has given our campaign the momentum we need with just a few weeks until Election Day. Michael Mannino is doing an excellent job on the City Council to keep Clearwater affordable and safe for its residents, and I look forward to continuing our work together.”
The HD 60 race is one of the most closely watched in the state this year, featuring a proven incumbent popular among constituents against a challenger who has served successfully and popularly even as the only Republican on the St. Pete dais.
Montanari faces a tough challenge in his attempt to unseat Cross, though her re-election battle will also be hard-fought.
Democrats enjoy a voter registration advantage of a little more than 3,000 voters, with 40,285 registered Democrats compared to 37,248 Republicans, according to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections’ most recent district voter registration data from July. That’s an advantage for Cross of a little less than 3 percentage points.
But those numbers include only active voters. When counting inactive voters, the advantage for Democrats — and by proxy, Cross — increases to about 6 percentage points, or about 6,000 voters.
Inactive voters are eligible to vote.
When looking at only active voters, trends in HD 60 have been shifting away from Democrats.
A look at historic voter registration data for the district available on the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website shows that in 2020, the last Presidential Election year, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 6 percentage points among active voters. That advantage is now below 3.
The race is turning into an expensive one, with Cross holding the edge in both funds raised and cash left on hand. In the most recent fundraising period covering activity from Aug. 24 through Sept. 6, Cross raised more than $30,000, with Montanari bringing in about half as much. Cross had more than $360,000 on hand as of Sept. 6, while Montanari ended the period with about $155,000.
Both candidates are campaigning hard, with Montanari bringing in loads of conservative support, including most recently from Rep. Adam Anderson, a Republican who represents nearby HD 57, covering parts of northern Pinellas County.
Other supporters include Montanari’s highest-profile backer, Daniel Perez, a Representative who is the Speaker-elect. Other supporters include Sen. Nick DiCeglie; Republican Reps. Kim Berfield, Linda Chaney and Berny Jacques; Pinellas County State Attorney Bruce Bartlett; Pinellas Clerk of Court Ken Burke; Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri; Pinellas Tax Collector and local GOP Chair Adam Ross; Public Defender Sara Mollo; Pinellas Tax Collector Charles Thomas; Pinellas Property Appraiser Mike Twitty; Pinellas County Commissioners Chris Latvala, Dave Eggers and Brian Scott; Pinellas School Board member Stephanie Meyer; former Sen. Jeff Brandes; and former St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster.
