With 2 weeks before Election Day, Pinellas Dems are at risk of losing even more ground on County Commission

Pinellas County Republicans successfully flipped the County Commission just two years ago, after trying to do so every election cycle since it went blue in 2014.

This year, Democrats have no shot at winning back a majority on the dais — only two races are up for election and both have Democratic incumbents. That means the party is solely on defense, trying to at least keep the seats the party already has.

Let’s start with a brief history lesson on the Pinellas County Commission. A perennial swing county, the Commission had been red for years, until an electorate frustrated by the Tea Party movement and the ensuing fluoride battles that permeated the county building in downtown Clearwater led to a shift.

Democrat Pat Gerard in 2014 pulled off the flip, defeating now-state Sen. Ed Hooper after he crushed former Pinellas County Commissioner Norm Roche in the GOP Primary that year. Roche had led what turned out to be a nationally embarrassing effort to remove fluoride from the county’s drinking water, a push that relied on junk science and that was successful for just one year.



https://floridapolitics.com/archives/702949-with-2-weeks-before-election-day-pinellas-dems-are-at-risk-of-losing-even-more-ground-on-county-commission/