Over the next several days, Times Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints Editor and columnist Graham Brink will be making candidate recommendations in eight local races. Sometimes they agree on the best candidate. Sometimes they don’t.
You can find out more about their process here. Read the other recommendations here.
Looking for information about other races? The Times has a user-friendly Voter Guide at tampabay.com/voterguide.
Hillsborough County Commission
The seven-member commission sets and oversees a budget of roughly $9 billion, establishes policies and adopts local ordinances. The annual salary is $127,320, and commissioners serve four-year terms. Three of the seven seats are elected countywide, while the other four are confined to particular parts of the county.
District 3, Democrats
Incumbent Gwendolyn “Gwen” Myers faces opponent Twanda Bradley in this district, which covers East Tampa, Ybor City and Progress Village. The winner meets Republican Luiz F. F. Garcia in the general election in November.
Our choice is Gwen Myers.
Myers, 72, is a former state tax auditor. She also spent 25 years in Hillsborough County government, retiring in 2013 as a supervisor of healthcare programs. In 2020, she won a special election for a vacant county commission seat. Two years later, she ran unopposed.
Myers has a strong grasp on the ins and outs of local government, from healthcare to social services to housing. She wants to expand transit options to help make the county more affordable for workers. She favors securing state and federal funds to build a light rail system and expand bus rapid transit lines. She also wants to widen existing driving lanes and add bicycle lanes.
She voted twice to continue Rays stadium negotiations, arguing that a well-structured deal would boost the local economy. She said she will scrutinize the numbers before any final deal is signed to ensure taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.
Bradley, 63, is a property investor, the CEO of a nonprofit and a political newcomer. She wrote in her questionnaire that she would fight for property tax and insurance relief. “I will use my background as a local entrepreneur to bring urgent economic stability, protect legacy residents with real housing affordability, and secure our fair share of infrastructure investments to stop neighborhood flooding,” she wrote.
Myers’ experience and expertise make her the stronger choice for District 3 Democrats. She deserves to move on to the general election.
District 5, Republicans (countywide)
Incumbent Donna Cameron Cepeda is up against political veteran Stacy Hahn, with the winner taking on Democrat Neil Manimala in the November general election.
In the Republican primary, the choice is clear: Vote for Hahn.
Hahn, 59, has spent most of the last eight years on the Hillsborough County School Board, where she developed her cordial but no-nonsense style of governing. She’s known for data-driven, well-researched decisions — an asset given the county’s multibillion-dollar budget. She puts in the work, and we’re confident she will do the same if elected to the county commission.
She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a doctorate in early childhood education and research. She is an expert on education and understands Hillsborough’s housing and transportation issues as well. She prioritizes fiscal responsibility and sees job creation as one of the keys to affordability. If the Rays stadium deal is still under negotiation after November, her attention to detail will serve the commission well.
Hahn has a track record of building consensus and getting things done. She also values government transparency — an area where her opponent has fallen short over the last four years.
Cameron Cepeda, 62, backed the dangerous idea of creating “legislation eliminating the Sunshine Law for county commissioners.” In practice, that means making more decisions in secret, behind closed doors away from those pesky constituents — and reporters.
Last year, now-retired Times columnist John Hill described Cepeda’s demeanor during commission meetings this way: “Most Wednesdays, she sits on the dais like a potted plant, breaking her trance only to support whatever comes from the mouth of fellow Republican Commissioner Joshua Wostal. You could eliminate her seat, give Wostal two votes and not notice any difference.”
On August 18, the better option is to vote for Stacy Hahn.
District 7, Democrats (countywide)
Democrats Aileen Rodriguez and Cindy Stuart are vying to see which one takes on incumbent Republican Joshua Wostal in the general election in November.
Rodriguez entered the race in January, while Stuart waited until June — just days before the qualifying deadline. This is a close call between two good candidates; we give Stuart the edge. Stuart, 59, is a former member of the school board and the county’s former clerk of court, an elected position overseeing about 650 employees and a $73 million budget. The clerk of courts is the county’s official record keeper, maintaining court and marriage records. The job also includes overseeing county commission records and auditing county operations. That gives Stuart deep insight into how the county runs, from budgeting to policy.
In her previous roles, Stuart was visible, practical and solution-oriented — qualities any effective commissioner needs. As clerk, she helped expedite passport processing and sped the delivery of domestic violence injunctions. As commissioner, she could apply that same insight to cut red tape and streamline local government.
Rodriguez, 54, was raised on a dairy farm in Hillsborough County and now runs her own public relations firm. She is a first-time candidate who has worked as a senior manager for the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, marketing communications director for the Helios Education Foundation and communications director for the 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee for the Republican National Convention. She also was a regional director for former Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.
Rodriguez left the Republican Party in 2019, saying it no longer reflected her Christian values. She’s backed by many prominent Hillsborough Democrats, including Rep. Kathy Castor and state House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell.
Rodriguez is a good candidate with solid ideas, but Stuart’s executive leadership and command of the county’s budgeting process give her the edge.
The recommendation process
Candidates were asked to fill out a questionnaire, and most were asked to sit for an interview with Times Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints editor and columnist Graham Brink. The process can also include running criminal and civil background checks, interviewing candidates’ colleagues and employers, reviewing voting records and financial disclosures and watching candidate forums and speeches.
