TAMPA -- The red wave that swept over Florida in the midterm elections two weeks ago, arrives at local governing bodies Tuesday (22).
Hillsborough and Pinellas counties will swear in new commissioners, giving each body a Republican majority.
At 9 a.m. Hillsborough will swear in Republicans Joshua Wostal, Donna Cameron Cepeda, and Michael Owen. Wostal and Cepeda defeated two incumbent Democrats. The new 4-3 majority is expected to quash any future efforts at a transportation sales tax, like the one that went down to defeat November 8th. Wostal is an outspoken opponent of new transportation funding in Hillsborough.
Tuesday evening (6 p.m.), the Pinellas commission will swear in its new Republican majority. Brian Scott defeated Democrat Pat Gerard to take her seat in District 2.
Manatee County, already majority-Republican, will become even more conservative when its new members are sworn in at 9 a.m. Commissioners Michael Rahn and Jason Bearden defeated more moderate Republicans in the primary and faced only write-in opposition in the general election. Commissioner Amanda Ballard defeated the only Democrat on the board, Reggie Bellamy.
School boards are officially non-partisan, but both Governor DeSantis and Florida Democrats made endorsements. A conservative majority takes over the Sarasota School Board Tuesday. Two conservatives endorsed by Moms for Liberty, Dawn Peters and Stephanie Meyer, will be sworn in on the Pinellas School Board.
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