Advertisement

Hillsborough Commission: Crist wins re-election, Higginbotham narrowly wins

 
Published Nov. 5, 2014

TAMPA — Republicans maintained control of the Hillsborough County Commission with one incumbent winning and another sitting commissioner narrowly pulling out a victory late Tuesday night.

In the face for countywide District 7, longtime commissioner Al Higginbotham edged Democrat Pat Kemp, who nearly overcame a massive spending gap to pull an upset.

In Tuesday's other contested commission race, incumbent Republican Victor Crist defeated Democratic challenger Elizabeth Belcher for northern Hillsborough's District 2 seat.

The only new face on the commission — School Board member Stacy White — officially clinched his east Hillsborough District 4 seat. White faced only a write-in opponent after winning the Republican primary in August. Republican Ken Hagan never drew an opponent for his countywide District 5 seat.

In a year that may be remembered for a surprising shift by Hillsborough commissioners on gay rights issues, voters preserved a 5-2 GOP supermajority.

While Democrats outnumber Republicans in Hillsborough, the GOP has long had greater success on the commission, which it has controlled since 2004. Commissioners elected Tuesday will serve four-year terms and make $95,782.

Higginbotham, 60, had to appeal to a more balanced countywide electorate than the conservative east Hillsborough district he has represented since 2006. He pitched voters on his role creating jobs, and although he opposed a 2010 referendum on a transit tax, Higginbotham said he would support one in 2016.

Kemp, 57, a veteran community activist and former chairwoman of Hillsborough's Democratic Party, emphasized her longtime support of expanded public transportation.

Higginbotham outspent Kemp, $129,000 to $56,000. This was her second run for office, after a failed state House bid in 2010. Higginbotham will replace outgoing Commissioner Mark Sharpe, who is leaving due to term limits.

In District 2, Crist had the advantages of incumbency and a lot more money — he spent $126,000 to Belcher's $7,000 — but his win was no blowout. Belcher, 64, a retired IRS investigator making her first run for public office, got more than 40 percent of the votes cast, according to preliminary results.

The win extends a long political career for Crist, 57, who since 1992 has represented northern Hillsborough in the state House, state Senate and on the commission.