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Former Tampa police corporal qualifies as Democrat to run for Hillsborough sheriff

 
Gary Pruitt, right, a Democrat and former Tampa police corporal, qualified Friday to challenge Republican Chad Chronister in the race for Hillsborough County sheriff. Chronister was appointed to the post last year. after Sheriff David Gee retired early.  [Times file]
Gary Pruitt, right, a Democrat and former Tampa police corporal, qualified Friday to challenge Republican Chad Chronister in the race for Hillsborough County sheriff. Chronister was appointed to the post last year. after Sheriff David Gee retired early. [Times file]
Published June 22, 2018

TAMPA — A Democrat has officially joined the race for Hillsborough County sheriff.

Gary Pruitt, a 50-year-old former Tampa police corporal who now works as director of security at a local mall, qualified Friday to challenge Republican Sheriff Chad Chronister, who was appointed to the post last year after Sheriff David Gee abruptly retired.

Pruitt qualified by paying the $10,663 fee at the Supervisor of Elections office on Falkenburg Road. He loaned his campaign $8,500 to cover the expense.

Pruitt said he's determined to give voters a choice in filling a job that has essentially been handed off from one sheriff to the next since the early 1960s. The time has come, he said, for an outsider to give the office a fresh look and act as an advocate for rank-and-file employees who feel disconnected from the command staff.

"The outsider is going to come in and make decisions based on what's important, and everybody will have a fair shot," he said. "It's going to change the game."

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No other candidate had qualified for the race by 11 a.m. Friday. The deadline is noon Friday. If Chronister and Pruitt remain as the only candidates, the race will be decided in the Nov. 6 general election. The winner will serve out Gee's unexpired term, through 2020.

"I am extremely excited there will be a campaign," Chronister said in an emailed statement. "It is an opportunity for me to highlight the hard work of the men and women of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the sacrifices they make each day to keep Hillsborough County safe and protect our community."

Gee surprised even his command staff when he announced his retirement in May 2017, but it was no surprise whom he recommended to Gov. Rick Scott to take his place. Gee had already begun to groom Chronister, a 26-year veteran of the agency who had risen to the rank of colonel. Scott obliged, and Chronister, 50, was sworn in Sept. 29.

Gee's retirement has given Chronister a major advantage. The county's Republican establishment, along with some prominent Democrats, have fallen in line behind him, helping boost his campaign war chest to a little more than $1 million, a record for a local race in Hillsborough and perhaps in the Tampa Bay area. Chronister qualified by submitting the required 8,499 signed petitions.

Pruitt had raised only $3,310 by the end of May.

A native of Wapakoneta, Ohio, Pruitt moved to Tampa with his mother at 15 and joined the Tampa Police Department in 1990. He worked as a patrol officer for about 15 years, spending time in all three police districts. Later, as an environmental crimes detective, he was assigned to reduce blight in East Tampa.

After retiring in 2015, Pruitt took a job with California-based Professional Security Consultants, the contractor that provides security for shopping center giant the Westfield Corp.

Chronister's campaign and his supporters have said an internal candidate with command staff experience has the institutional knowledge required to run the agency. Pruitt insists he can come in and learn "what we should be doing, not just what we've always done."

"I've never held a command position, but I've always done the work, and that's what important."

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.