St. Petersburg, Hillsborough elections: Primaries set November showdowns
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The St. Petersburg City Council ballot is set for November.
State of play: Restaurant owner Pete Boland will face off against brewery owner Mike Harting for the District 3 seat, currently held by term-limited Ed Montanari.
- In District 7, former Florida House Rep. Wengay "Newt" Newton and Baptist minister Corey Givens were on track to emerge from the six-candidate pool to battle it out in November.
Plus: District 5 will also be on the November ballot, with incumbent Deborah Figgs-Sanders fighting to keep her seat against real estate broker and entrepreneur Torrie Jasuwan.
By the numbers: Boland got about 29% of the vote, with Harting trailing him just slightly at 27%. Next in the field of five candidates was progressive organizer Nick Carey (23%), who outraised his opponents but had a steep hill to climb in a conservative district.
- Newton was the clear favorite in District 7, with 35% of the vote in unofficial results. Givens trailed by 12 percentage points.
Yes, but: The voting pool will be a lot bigger in November.
- While only residents of each district could vote in the primary, all three open seats are open to all St. Petersburg voters in the general election.
Meanwhile, in Hillsborough: Ken Hagan, the county's longest-tenured commissioner, was trouncing first-time candidate Melissa Nordbeck in the Republican primary for District 2.
- Hagan, gunning for his sixth term, will now face Democrat Patricia Alonzo, who sailed through her primary unopposed.
Zoom in: Plant City Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Christine Miller (R) is on track to face finance executive Nicole Payne (D) to represent District 4.
- Miller enters the general election with an oversized war chest, scores of endorsements and the edge of incumbency, after DeSantis tapped her to succeed Michael Owen in June.
In District 6: It's firefighter Chris Boles (R) against former state Rep. Sean Shaw (D) in the race to claim Commission Pat Kemp's countywide seat.
- Shaw heads into the general with a slight edge in fundraising over Boles.