The Pinellas County Democratic Party, riding high on recent news that Dems now outnumber Republicans in Pinellas, has announced that six candidates have qualified by petition for various races. They are:

--Two candidates for constitutional offices, Ben Friedlander and Randall Jones both qualified by petition by the May 19 deadline

--Three challengers for State House races: Carl Zimmermann in District 48, George Gonzalez District 54, and Charles McKenzie in District 55

-- Samm Simpson qualified in Congressional District 10 back in March

Boasted party chair Toni Molinaro in a news release, “We expect to see Pinellas government change from red to blue on November 4th when we win additional State House and County races.”

--Will Van Sant, Times Staff Writer