Four of Pinellas County’s five constitutional officers were elected without opposition. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, Clerk of Court Ken Burke, Property Appraiser Mike Twitty, and Adam Ross, who ran unopposed to replace retiring Tax Collector Charles Thomas, were all elected. Julie Marcus, Supervisor of Elections, will face Chris Gleason in the open Republican Primary.
Burke raised $30,550 and spent slightly more than $3,000, whilst Gualtieri raised more than $73,000 and spent just over $10,000. Twitty raised more than $85,000 and spent almost $17,000. Ross, a non-incumbent, raised the most money, about $106,000 while spending slightly more than $10,000. Marcus raised more than $65,000 and has over $48,000 in hand.
Furthermore, Districts 5 and 7 saw no opposition to the reelection of Pinellas County Commissioners Chris Latvala and Rene Flowers. There is competition in two County Commission races: Districts 1 and 3. In the general election on November 5, Republican Chris Scherer and Democrat Cookie Kennedy will square off in District 1.
Charlie Justice, the Democratic incumbent in District 3, will go up against the victor of Vincent Nowicki and David Scott Leatherwood’s GOP primary. Cathy Ann McKyton, Aaron Weston Hubbard, Diane Croff, Lorraine Kelly, and Susan Bedinghaus were all elected county judges without facing any opposition. There are also other School Board contests on the ballot.
Moms for Liberty is supporting Danielle Marlof in District 1 and Erika Picard in District 4, respectively, against incumbents Laura Hine in District 1 and Eileen Long in District 4. Republicans Katie Blaxberg and Stacy Geier and Democrat Brad DeCorte are in a close contest for the District 5 School Board seat.
Supporters of Geier, Moms for Liberty call Blaxberg a RINO. Blaxberg temporarily switched from being a Republican to a Democrat because she disagreed with former president Donald Trump’s policies and his remarks on alleged sexual assault. The candidates’ political affiliations will not be listed on the ballot in the nonpartisan School Board elections.
