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March column: Mulhern still mulling while Tamargo goes recruiting

 
Published July 9, 2015

Former Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern told reporters two weeks ago that she intends to move from her South Tampa home to St. Petersburg and run for the District 13 congressional seat held by Republican David Jolly.

The Tampa Bay Times Buzz blog reported that Mulhern said she planned to file immediately.

So far, however, she hasn't, according to the Federal Elections Commission and state Division of Elections websites.

Is she running? Asked via text message this week, Mulhern responded, "Taking some time off from politics — weeks — to vacation with family. After that, if they are up for this, I will get back to work building finance plan and putting together professional staff."

Moving from Tampa to Pinellas didn't help Democrat Alex Sink in last year's special election in the district, which is entirely within Pinellas County.

Lincoln Day a success for GOP's Tamargo

The almost-final tally from the Hillsborough County Lincoln Day Dinner, which featured keynote speaker Jeb Bush: more than $190,000 in gross revenue, and about $145,000 net after expenses.

That will put a feather in Hills­borough County Republican Party chairwoman Deborah Tamargo's cap.

She may need one, because at least some local Republicans are continuing to complain about what they call the "tea party takeover" of the local party in January's elections, in which Tamargo and a slate of tea party-oriented Republicans won the major offices after former chairman Tom Lee announced unexpectedly he wouldn't run for re-election.

Party activist Mark Proctor said he thinks the discontent has subsided since the period just after the election.

Challengers sought to unseat Democrats

Tamargo, by the way, says she's recruiting Republican candidates for "every seat" in Hillsborough County at all levels of government, even those held by established Democrats in favorable districts.

And yes, that does include Democratic Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez, who in 1998 unseated Tamargo for the West Tampa state House seat. Tamar­go denied she has any special desire to take him on.

But Henriquez, who held off Ronda Storms by a 10-point margin in 2012, wouldn't be Tamargo's toughest Democratic nut to crack. That status likely would go to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor or the District 19 state Senate seat held by term-limited Sen. Arthenia Joyner, where House members Betty Reed and Darryl Rouson are contesting a Democratic primary.

Tamargo said some interested Republicans are watching the outcome of the lawsuit over the state's congressional districts, which could render Castor's district somewhat less overwhelmingly Democratic.

Keep eye on Alvarez, Otero

Local lawyer Danny Alvarez, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who lives in Seffner, was regional Hispanic outreach coordinator for Gov. Rick Scott in last year's election.

He served briefly on the county's Charter Review Board before a move out of West Tampa rendered him ineligible, and has been involved in other civic issues.

Look for Alvarez to jump into electoral politics soon, says a friend, GOP political consultant Fred Piccolo.

But not in 2016. A presidential election year, with high Democratic turnout, isn't a good year for a new Republican candidate to try to make a mark.

Alvarez's main practice is personal injury, serving mostly Hispanic clients. But along with a partner who is a refugee from the Hugo Chavez regime in Venezuela, he also works to get asylum for Venezuelan immigrants, and is working to get the federal government to grant temporary protected status for all such immigrants.

Another charter review member and local GOP activist is Evilio "E.J." Otero, a retired Army colonel who argued strongly and unsuccessfully for enlarging the board of county commissioners to nine seats, and who's also a possible future contender for office.

Neither one said he favors creating a district drawn to help a Hispanic candidate, but it's likely a new district would include a substantial Hispanic voting population.

While Democrats think an enlarged commission could help them gain seats on the board, particularly if it had an Hispanic "access district," there could also be GOP Hispanic candidates.

Contact William March at wemarch@gmail.com.