2020 Election - Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco Candidates
The General Election will take place on November 3rd, with early voting kicking off on October 19 in Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties.
Find your early voting polling stations here:
Vote in Person
When voting in person, you will be asked to show an I.D with a signature. If you are unable to provide an ID, your ballot will be cast as a provisional vote. Your ballot will count if the signature on the ballot matches the signature on your voter registration record.
Vote by Mail
The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Saturday, October 24. Your ballot must be received by 7:00pm on Tuesday, November 3rd in order to count. You may also return your mail ballot in-person to a polling location.
Congressional Candidates
Congressional District 12
Incumbent Gus Bilirakis, Republican, will face Democrat Kimberly Walker. This seat is in Pinellas County.
Congressional District 13
Incumbent Congressman Charlie Crist, a Democrat and former Governor of Florida, will face Republican newcomer Anna Paulina Luna. District 13 is a swing district in Pinellas County that supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and flipped in 2016 to support Donald Trump.
Congressional District 14
Longtime incumbent, Democrat Kathy Castor, will face Republican Christine Quinn. CD 14 includes Hillsborough County
Congressional District 15
First-time Republican candidate Scott Franklin will face another political newcomer Alan Cohn, who is a former investigative journalist. This seat includes parts of north Hillsborough and Polk, as well as southern Lake counties.
Congressional District 16
Incumbent Republican candidate Vern Buchanan will face Democrat Margaret Good, a current State Representative. The district covers all of Manatee county and parts of Hillsborough and Sarasota counties.
Florida Senate
District 19
Incumbent Democrat Senator Darryl Rouson will face Independent Christina Paylan in District 19 which covers parts of Hillsborough and southeast Pinellas Counties.
District 20
Former Representative Danny Burgess, Republican, will face Kathy Lewis, Democrat, in the seat that longterm Senator Tom Lee is vacating.
Florida House of Representatives
District 36
Incumbent Representative Amber Mariano, a Republican who is the youngest representative to ever be elected to the Florida House, will face Democrat challenger Daniel Endonino in the west Pasco seat.
District 37
Incumbent Republican Ardian Zika will face Democrat Tammy Garcia in District 37 which covers parts of Pasco County.
District 38
Republican incumbent Randy Maggard, who was first elected in a special session in 2019 and is therefore running for his first full term, will face Democrat Brian Staver in Pasco county.
District 57
One-term incumbent Mike Beltran, Republican, will face Democrat Scott Hottenstein in this East Hillsborough seat.
District 58
Republican Incumbent Lawrence McClure will face Democrat Cleo Townsend in a district that includes much of East Hillsborough and Plant City.
District 59
Brandon-based lawyer Michael Owen, Republican, will face Democrat Andrew Learned for HD 59 located in the Brandon area of East Hillsborough County. This is an open seat as it was vacated by Democrat Adam Hattersley who unsuccessfully ran for Congress. It is a swing district held by a Republican prior to Democrat Hattersley’s 2-year term.
District 60
Republican Incumbent Jackie Toledo will face Democrat challenger Julie Jenkins in this South Tampa seat.
District 61
Democrat Dianne Hart was re-elected for a second term without opposition to represent East Tampa.
District 62
Incumbent Democrat and former School Board Member Susan Valdes will face Republican Angel Urbina Capo and independent Laurie Rodrigez-Person in this west Hillsborough County seat.
District 63
Incumbent Democrat Fentrice Driskell was re-elected for a second term without opposition to represent North Tampa including New Tampa.
District 64
School Teacher and Democrat Jessica Harrington will face Republican Attorney Traci Koster. This seat only recently became open as former Representative Jamie Grant stepped down to take up a position as the state’s Chief Information Officer. This seat covers parts of west Hillsborough County and east Pinellas County.
District 65
Republican incumbent Chris Sprowls will face Democrat challenger Kelly Johnson. Representative Sprowls is set to be the next Speaker of the Florida House and is running for a fourth and final term in the Florida Legislature. District 65 covers parts of north Pinellas including Clearwater.
District 66
Republican incumbent Nick DiCeglie will face Democrat Patricia Plantamura in this North Pinellas seat that includes Largo.
District 67
Republican incumbent Chris Latvala will face Democrat Douglas Dawn in this North Pinellas seat which includes Clearwater
District 68
Democrat incumbent Ben Diamond will face Republican Matt Tito in this Pinellas County seat which includes St Petersburg.
District 69
Democrat Incumbent Jennifer Webb will face Republican Linda Chaney in this south Pinellas County seat which includes St Pete Beach.
District 70
Democrat Michelle Rayner has already been elected to the Florida House as she won the open primary in August where no Republican candidates challenged the four democrats.
Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County Commission District 1
Former Tampa City Councilman and mayoral candidate Harry Cohen, Democrat, will face Republican Scott Levinson. The seat is currently held by Commissioner Sandy Murman who is switching to run against Commissioner Pat Kemp in District 6.
Hillsborough County Commission District 3
Gwen Myers will face Republican Maura Cruz Lanz in the Democrat-leaning district. The seat is currently held by Commissioner Les Miller who is leaving due to term limits.
Hillsborough County Commission District 6
Incumbent Democrat Pat Kemp will face Republican Sandy Murman. Commissioner Murman currently represents District 1, and is switching to District 6 as she is term-limited in her current seat. As two current Commissioners go head-to-head in this countywide seat, this will be an interesting race to watch.
Hillsborough County School Board District 1
Following a four-person primary race, Nadia Combs will go on to face incumbent School Board Member Steve Cona in a run-off election in November. The school board races are non-partisan and require at least 50% of the vote at the primary elections to be outright elected. As neither met the required threshold, they will go head to head in November for this west Hillsborough seat. All three incumbent school board members captured a lower percentage than their challengers in this election.
Hillsborough County School Board District 3
With only 300 votes between them in the primary, Mitch Thrower and Jessica Vaughn will proceed to the run-off election in November. Mitch Thrower is a public accountant and Jessica Vaughn is a substitute teacher. They are vying for the seat vacated by Cindy Stuart as she runs for Clerk of the Court.
Hillsborough County School Board District 5
Henry 'Shake' Washington, who received 44% of the primary vote, held a comfortable lead over incumbent Tamara Shamburger, who received only 23% of the vote. They will go head-to-head at the general election.
Hillsborough County School Board District 7
Former school board member Sally Harris will face incumbent Lynn Gray in November, both vying for the state-wide seat. As the primary votes were tallied up, Sally Harris held a 28% lead over Lynn Gray's 27%.
Hillsborough County Sheriff
Incumbent Republican Sheriff Chad Chronister will face independent Ron McMullen and Democrat Gary Pruitt.
Hillsborough County Clerk
Current School Board Member Cindy Stuart won the race and has been elected as Clerk of the Court.
Hillsborough County Tax Collector
Nancy Millan won the Democrat primary with over 61% of the vote, defeating former School Board Member April Griffin. She will go on to face Republican TK Matthew in November.
Pinellas County
Pinellas Board of County Commissioners District 1
Republican Larry Ahern will challenge Democrat incumbent Janet Long in this north Pinellas seat.
Pinellas Board of County Commissioners District 2
Incumbent Democrat Charlie Justice will face Republican challenger Tammy Sue Vasquez in south Pinellas County.
Pinellas Board of County Commissioners District 7
Current long-term School Board Member Rene Flowers will go on to face NPA Maria Scrubbs.
Pinellas County School Board District 1
Parent activist and businesswoman Laura Hine received 44% of the primary vote and will face private school teacher Stephanie Meyer who received 31% of the vote in the run-off election.
Pinellas County School Board District 4
Incumbent Eileen Long won a second term on the School Board as she was reelected with 68.4% of the vote.
Pinellas County School Board District 7
Karl Nurse, with 34% of the primary vote, will face Caprice Edmond who received 25% of the vote in the run-off to replace Rene Flowers who was elected to the County Commission.
Pinellas County Sherriff
Incumbent Republican Sherrif Bob Gualtieri will face Democrat Eliseo Santana.
Pinellas County Tax Collector
Incumbent Charles Thomas will face Democrat Joseph Saportas.
Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections
Incumbent Republican Julie Marcus will face Democrat Dan Helm.
Pasco County
Pasco County Commission District 3
Republican Incumbent Kathryn Starkey will face Democrat Jessica Stempien for the south Pasco district.
Pasco County Commission District 4
Republican Christina "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick, Chief Administrative Officer for the Miracles Schools, successfully won a four-way universal primary with 32% of the vote and was elected to the Commission. The West Pasco seat is being vacated as current Commissioner Mike Wells leaves to become the Pasco County Property Appraiser.
Pasco County Commission District 5
Incumbent Republican Jack Mariano will face independent Victor Rodriguez and Democrat Brandi Geoit for the west Pasco County district.
Pasco County School Board District 4
10-year incumbent Allison Crumbley has won reelection to the School Board during the primary election, beating competitor Joshua Stringfellow.
Pasco County Superintendent
Incumbent two-term Superintendent Kurt Browning won the Republican Primary with almost two-thirds of the votes. He will now face Cynthia Thompson, a no-party candidate.
Constitutional Amendments
Amendment 1: Citizenship Requirement to Vote in Florida Elections
Ballot Summary: This amendment provides that only United States citizens who are at least 18 years of age, a permanent resident of Florida, and registered to vote as provided by law, shall be qualified to vote in a Florida election.
What it does: It would change one word in Section 2 of Article VI of the state Constitution regarding who can vote in the state.
The section currently states “Every citizen of the United States who is at least eighteen years of age and who is a permanent resident of the state, if registered as provided by law, shall be an elector of the county where registered." Amendment 1 would change the word “every” to “Only a.”
This change would have no legal impact to voting in Florida as only citizens can legally vote here now.
Amendment 2: Raising Florida’s Minimum wage
Ballot summary: Raises minimum wage to $10.00 per hour effective September 30, 2021. Each September 30th thereafter, minimum wage shall increase by $1.00 per hour until the minimum wage reaches $15.00 per hour on September 30, 2026. From that point forward, future minimum wage increases shall revert to being adjusted annually for inflation starting September 30, 2027
What it does: Florida’s current minimum wage is $8.56 per hour, greater than the $7.25 federal minimum wage. It would raise the minimum wage to $10 in 2021, and then $1 per year after that until it reaches $15. Supporters of the amendment say that it would help level the playing field for workers. Opponents of the measure say the wage mandate would put too great a burden on businesses.
Amendment 3: All Voters Vote in Primary Elections for State Legislature, Governor and Cabinet
Ballot summary: "Allows all registered voters to vote in primaries for state legislature, governor, and cabinet regardless of political party affiliation. All candidates for an office, including party nominated candidates, appear on the same primary ballot. Two highest vote getters advance to general election. If only two candidates qualify, no primary is held and winner is determined in general election. Candidate’s party affiliation may appear on ballot as provided by law. Effective January 1, 2024."
What it does: This amendment relates to which voters can vote in the primaries. Currently, Florida is a closed primary state, meaning that registered Democrats vote in a different primary to registered Republican.
A yes vote means that all candidates would be on one ballot, and the two winning candidates in the primary, regardless of party, would proceed to the general election. Democrats and Republicans would have the same ballot with the same list of same candidates. It could potentially mean that two Democrats or two Republicans face each other in the general election.
A no vote means that Florida would remain a “closed primary” state and closed primaries would be held by each party. Voters would select a candidate to be a political party’s nominee for a given office in the general election.
Amendment 4: Voter Approval of Constitutional Amendments
Ballot summary: "Requires all proposed amendments or revisions to the state constitution to be approved by the voters in two elections, instead of one, in order to take effect. The proposal applies the current thresholds for passage to each of the two elections."
What it does: A yes vote means that Constitutional amendments would need to get 60 percent approval in two separate elections. Currently, they only need to receive 60 percent approval in one election to take effect. This amendment would make it harder for voter ballot initiatives to pass.
Amendment 5: Limitations on Homestead Property Tax Assessments; Increased Portability Period to Transfer Accrued Benefit
Ballot summary: "Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution, effective January 1, 2021, to increase, from 2 years to 3 years, the period of time during which accrued Save-Our-Homes benefits may be transferred from a prior homestead to a new homestead."
What it does: This measure would clean up what some say is a loophole in the so-called “Save Our Homes” tax benefit available to Floridians. Currently, Floridians who move from one homesteaded property to another have two years from Jan. 1 of the year of the sale of the first home to claim the tax benefit. This would give homeowners an additional year to do so.
Under Florida’s “Save Our Homes” law, homeowners who claim a homestead exemption are allowed to have their home’s taxable value increase by, at most, three percent per year. But the market value of a home may outpace that growth. The difference between a home’s assessed value and its taxable value is the “Save Our Homes” benefit.
When a homeowner sells a homesteaded property and buys another, they only have to pay taxes on the value of the home minus the value of any claimed exemptions, including the Save Our Homes benefit.
Amendment 6: Ad Valorem Tax Discount for Spouses of Certain Deceased Veterans Who Had Permanent, Combat-Related Disabilities
Ballot summary: "Provides that the homestead property tax discount for certain veterans with permanent combat-related disabilities carries over to such veteran's surviving spouse who holds legal or beneficial title to, and who permanently resides on, the homestead property, until he or she remarries or sells or otherwise disposes of the property. The discount may be transferred to a new homestead property of the surviving spouse under certain conditions. The amendment takes effect January 1, 2021."
What it does: Currently, some Florida veterans get a discount on their property taxes if they were honorably discharged, are over 65 and have been permanently disabled by combat.
This amendment would allow spouses to continue to claim that property tax exemption after the veteran’s death if the spouse holds the title to the property and permanently lives there. It would also allow the spouse to transfer the exemption to a new property in some cases.