Local primary elections are two weeks from Tuesday. In-person early voting began Monday in parts of the state, including Hillsborough and Polk Counties (check with your local supervisor of elections). Vote-by-mail has already started. All votes must be cast by Primary Election Day, which is August 18th.
On WMNF’s MidPoint, we looked at two county commission primary races in Hillsborough. It’s the largest county in our region and impacts things like transportation and development.
A few weeks ago the Tampa Tiger Bay Club invited all the candidates for the primaries in two districts for an online forum. It was recorded by the Tampa Bay Arts & Education Network, TBAE.
District 1 covers parts of Northwest Tampa, West Tampa, South Tampa and South County. It’s currently represented by Republican Sandra Murman. Two Republicans are running in this month’s primary as are two Democrats. The Republicans are Tony Morejon and Scott Levinson. The Democrats are Harry Cohen and Jen McDonald.
District 3 includes much of East Tampa. It’s currently represented by Democrat Les Miller. There’s only one Republican running, so she isn’t in the primary. There are five Democrats running in the primary: Rick Fernandez, Gwen Myers, Frank Reddick, Thomas Scott and Sky White.
Listen to WMNF’s MidPoint here
The forum was moderated by Tampa Tiger Bay’s Yvonne Fry. Candidates fielded questions on COVID-19, racist statues, East Tampa and transportation.