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Four GOP candidates will get to know you
By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer Watch your mailbox. This is the month when the Republican campaign for Hillsborough County commissioner shifts from roadsides and the debate circuit to big-dollar mass mailings. The four candidates seeking an open north Hillsborough seat entered August with nearly $125,000 unspent. The home stretch prompted Jim Davison, 47, of Hunter's Green, who is the most reluctant fundraiser of the four, to pump $8,000 of personal funds into his campaign on Aug. 2. He said he'll add another $12,000 soon. Notably, Latvala, Coley and Co., campaign consultants for Denise Lasher, 47, of Lutz, are direct-mail specialists. As of Aug. 2, Lasher reported nearly $50,000 in unspent campaign money. Ken Hagan, 34, of Cross Creek boasts of $52,000 remaining, despite peppering the district with hundreds of signs. Those three candidates, along with Denise "Dee" Layne of Lutz, are fighting for a nomination that will go to the top vote-getter on Sept. 10, regardless of the percentage of votes received. There is no runoff primary this year. The winner will face Democrat Ronald Dyser and independent Rod Gaudin in November. The Republican nominee is likely to be a heavy favorite. District 2 elected Republican Jim Norman to the seat for the past 10 years, and voter registration has become increasingly Republican. The winner will serve two years. As the Republican campaign enters the home stretch, divergent campaign styles are showing. All four candidates say they are honoring Norman's tradition of walking door to door to meet voters. But none appears to pursue it with as much zeal as Hagan. He said his campaign has knocked on 12,000 doors and spoken to almost 9,000 voters. "I prefer speaking one-on-one at a citizen's front door, speaking with them about what their concerns are," Hagan said. Conversely, Hagan has missed nearly all the campaign's debates, pleading the need to care for his 5-month-old son. His three opponents have dutifully attended the debates, including three in the past 10 days. They've blasted Hagan for his absences. "We have the same feelings for our children that he has for his, and we have made accommodations for these activities," Davison said. "I believe he is using his family to escape his responsibilities." Layne, 47, president of the Lutz Civic Association, said she is doing less traditional campaigning in lieu of neighborhood activism. In two debates last week, she said 11 different communities around Hillsborough County had sought her help in the previous month to deal with government issues. Layne has been endorsed by the Tampa Tribune, the Florida Sierra Club, the Florida League of Conservation Voters and the Florida Consumer Action Network. Hagan has been endorsed by the Builders Association of Greater Tampa Bay. Davison has been endorsed by the Filipino-American Community, with which he became acquainted after taking his children to a Filipino culture festival. Lasher has been endorsed by the Police Benevolent Association and the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors. -- Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
