Politics & Government
Candidates Announce, Speak Tonight at East Hillsborough Democrats Meeting
Bruce Barnett, Elizabeth Belcher, Gail Gottlieb and Mark Nash, members of the East Hillsborough County Democratic Club, will speak tonight, June 12, about their respective races for local and state offices following a talk by former Tampa mayor Pam Iorio.
For the first time at tonight’s meeting of the East Hillsborough County Democratic Club in Brandon, where former Tampa mayor Pam Iorio is scheduled to speak, club members Gail Gottlieb, Elizabeth Belcher and Mark Nash will be in attendance as qualified candidates for this year’s elections.
Also in attendance will be Bruce Barnett, who first declared his intentions several months ago to run for the newly formed District 57 seat of the Florida House of Representatives. He is the sole Democrat in the race, which has drawn Republican candidates Brian Hollands and Jake Raburn.
Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
All four candidates will make presentations, Gottlieb said, following the keynote address by Iorio.
Gottlieb is running for the House of Representatives, for the District 59 seat now held by State Rep. Rachel Burgin, a Republican. Burgin is running for the Florida Sentate seat vacated by Ronda Storms, who in turn is running for the office of Hillsborough County Property Appraiser.
Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Belcher also is running to fill the District 24 seat Storms is vacating.
Meanwhile, Nash has qualified to run against Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham, who is seeking reelection to the District 4 seat. Also in the race is Joy Green, running as a candidate with no-party affiliation.
According to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office, Gottlieb, in the race for the District 59 seat, faces opposition from Republican candidates Michael “Mike” Floyd, Ross Spano, Betty Jo Tompkins and Joe Wicker. Gottlieb is the sole Democrat in the race. Also running, as a write-in candidate, is Timothy Edward McCorkle.
Belcher is the sole Democrat in the District 24 race for the state Senate. Facing off in the Aug. 14 Republican primary are Burgin and former state Senate president Tom Lee. Randolp Link is the declared write-in candidate.
The June 12 meeting at Barnacles is from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at 926 Providence Road.
For more information about the club, call 813-334-8376, or emal EHCDClub@yahoo.com.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
