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Hillsborough Democrats have everything going for them except history

 
Sandy Murman, shown during a swearing in ceremony, is leaving one Hillsborough County Commission seat to run for another. Among them, four of the commissioners seeking re-election have served 32 years [Times files, 2012]
Sandy Murman, shown during a swearing in ceremony, is leaving one Hillsborough County Commission seat to run for another. Among them, four of the commissioners seeking re-election have served 32 years [Times files, 2012]
Published Nov. 24, 2017

TAMPA — For 15 years, Republicans have held a majority of seats on the Hillsborough County Commission.

It's the longest stretch one party has controlled the board since a corruption scandal expanded the body to seven members in 1985.

But all five Republican seats are up for election in 2018, putting the GOP on the defensive next year in a county where Democrats have seen promising gains and with a polarizing president who has so far dogged the party's candidates in races near and far.

Meanwhile, Democrats see an unprecedented opportunity to drastically alter a body that governs the fourth largest county in Florida. A party accused of disorganization and disinterest in the past now feels up to the challenge.

Membership has quadrupled, energized by the early presidency of Donald Trump, said Ione Townsend, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Hillsborough County. Democrats have fielded candidates in all five County Commission races, led by a bid from House Minority Leader Janet Cruz for the District 1 seat. More are expected.

The state party has for the first time in recent memory invested in a year-round local ground game, Townsend said, and is coming off key wins, including this month's St. Petersburg mayoral race and Annette Taddeo's unexpected September victory in a Miami-area special Senate election.

"It has people's spirits really elevated," Townsend said. "The other thing is we wake up every morning to a new tweet (from Trump) and as long as that keeps going, I think the electorate will wake up."

Republicans, though, have typically fared well here in balloting that falls between the presidential election years. They also have a significant fundraising advantage. The four county commissioners running for re-election — Victor Crist, Ken Hagan, Sandy Murman and Stacy White — have raised a combined $795,000, easily outpacing the Democrats' war chest.

Cruz has raised the most of any Democrat with $42,500. But she is running for a seat where the one declared Republican, local businessman Aakash Patel, has brought in more than $218,000 and contributed another $20,000 to his campaign.

"Money is not going to be an object," said Deborah Tamargo, chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party. Tamargo also noted that state Democrats may be coming off wins but are in disarray after party chairman Stephen Bittel resigned last week for making women feel uncomfortable at work.

"We're focused on getting voters registered and getting voters out," Tamargo said.

There are 60,000 more Democrats registered in Hillsborough County than Republicans. In the 2016 presidential election, Hills­borough bucked its trend as a national bellwether and came out strongly for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Republicans ultimately celebrated that night, but glass-half-full Democrats had reason for optimism locally. For example, Pat Kemp handily won a countywide commission race in which she actually outpaced Clinton's performance here, and Democrat Andrew Warren, then an unknown federal prosecutor, defeated longtime Republican State Attorney Mark Ober.

If Trump's popularity does not improve, his affect on down-ballot races will be the story of 2018. It's already in play locally. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman successfully staved off a challenge from popular former Mayor Rick Baker, in part by nationalizing the race and tying his opponent to Trump's policies and rhetoric.

Patel, a political newcomer and the rare millennial candidate, said he doesn't think that kind of campaign will translate to a County Commission race. But unlike Baker, he's not shying away from the man he voted for last year.

"I voted for Trump. I don't regret it," Patel said. "The thing we have in local government to remember is 'local issues are local issues.' Me voting for President Trump shouldn't affect how I vote on road legislation. I'm pro Tampa, that's what I tell people. I'm pro Hillsborough County."

Murman said the takeaway from St. Petersburg was less about Trump and more about the difficulties of going negative where most people are happy with the direction of the city.

"Running against an incumbent is hard," she said. "The message to anyone running is, 'What's your plan? What's your solution? Are you going to be a naysayer or a solution builder?'?"

Democrats hope to turn incumbency against Republicans, three of whom are hoping to swap their current commission seats for another. Murman, who only a year ago won re-election to her South Tampa-based district, is leaving it to run countywide three years before her term ends. Crist is looking to jump from his north Hillsborough seat to the countywide seat currently occupied by Hagan. In turn, Hagan is running for Crist's seat, which Hagan previously held for eight years.

Combined, Murman, Crist, Hagan and White have spent 32 years on the County Commission and another 30 years in other elected offices.

This long tenure has also attracted primary challenges from other Republicans. Intellectual property attorney Chris Paradies likened his campaign against Hagan to a local "draining the swamp," seizing on the phrase Trump popularized before moving inside the Beltway.

"It's something the taxpayers are tired of seeing," Paradies said.

Contact Steve Contorno at scontorno@tampabay.com. Follow @scontorno