Janelle Irwin Taylor
Chris Boles has defeated Sean Shaw in the race for Hillsborough County Commission, District 6, adding another seat to the GOP majority Republicans won just four years ago.
Boles’ victory, with Ken Hagan’s re-election and Christine Miller’s win, means Republicans will now have a 5-2 majority.
Boles will replace incumbent Democratic Commissioner Pat Kemp, who did not seek re-election.
With 319 of 448 precincts reporting, Boles earned 52% of the vote.
His victory comes despite an early September poll showing Shaw with the edge, and a slight fundraising disadvantage.
The poll showed Shaw leading Boles by 4 percentage points, at 45% to 41%. Shaw also had a fundraising lead in the race, collecting more than $214,000, compared to Boles’ nearly $186,000.
Shaw, a local lawyer who served as a Representative from 2016 until 2018, previously ran unsuccessfully for state Attorney General.
Boles is a Battalion Chief with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and is the Executive Director of Hillsborough County Firefighter Charities. Boles’ campaign platform includes conservative priorities, such as reining in wasteful spending, as well as other less partisan issues such as handling exploding growth in the east and south of the county and improving emergency response times.
With Kemp leaving office to run for Congress, Republicans saw an opening in the countywide contest. The GOP reclaimed a majority on the Commission just two years ago, when two Democrats lost their seats to Republican challengers, despite sizable fundraising advantages. A third, Harry Cohen, only narrowly held his seat by less than a percentage point.
Democrats didn’t have a strong chance at regaining a seat this cycle. Two other County Commission races — Districts 2 and 4 — have been overwhelmingly favored for Republicans.
In District 2, longtime incumbent Republican Hagan was being challenged by Democrat Patricia Alonzo. Hagan raised nearly $342,000 for his race, while Alonzo brought in less than $42,000.
Hagan won with 55% of the vote.
In District 4, incumbent Miller, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the seat earlier this year, faced Democrat Nicole Payne. The fundraising gap in that race was also wide, with Miller raising more than $170,000 to be elected to the seat, compared to just over $20,000 for Payne.
Miller won with 58% of the vote.
