“Just the Facts, Ma’am” A review of first debate in the Hillsborough County SOE race

This past Friday, I attend my first Tiger Bay Club meeting and political debate.  For those not familiar with the Tiger Bay Club, they bill themselves as “Tampa’s most stimulating professional club” and a “political forum, a non-partisan assembly”.   The meetings feature speakers with audience participation in the form of vigorous Q&A.  During the election season candidates are given the opportunity to present themselves and their platforms.  The questions are judged by three person panel and the best question is awarded the “Garfield” prize.  I had assumed the prize had been named for President Garfield, but, in fact, it is named for the small, stuffed tiger (resembling a lasagna loving cartoon cat) that is presented to the best inquisitor.   Their meetings are open to the public, but only members can ask questions.  

This particular meeting featured a debate between candidates for the office of Supervisor of Elections (SOE) for Hillsborough County.  On the Republican side, Rich Glorioso, former Air Force Officer and term limited Plant City State Representative presented his platform of restoring integrity to the office.  The Democratic candidate, Craig Latimer, 35 year veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office and current Chief of Staff of the SOE is running on the platform that he and the current SOE, Dr. Earl Leonard, have restored integrity to the office.  All agreed that this crucial post should be non-partisan and that the essence of a properly executed election is that it has the trust of the electorate. 

What was most notable about this meeting was the winning question AND the answers.  Proffered by Tiger Bay Club stalwart Tom Aderhold, the two part question was, “Provide a graphic example that illustrates your non-partisanship AND an example of how your opponent is too partisan for this post”.   Each of the candidates provided their answers with Glorioso citing examples in his role as a long time, non-partisan member of the Plant City Commission and bi-partisan efforts in the Legislature.  Latimer referred to instances from his four years running the day to day operations of the Supervisor’s office and actually conducting elections.  When prompted to answer the second half of the question about their opponent’s partisan nature, both candidates balked.

In this hyper partisan election season with an electorate being pummeled with negative ads, two candidates for political office refused the opportunity to cast aspersions on the reputation of their rival.  This was clearly a “man bites dog” moment, noteworthy for its reflection of the candidates’ character.  Each has spent decades in uniform, dedicated to serving their nation and community.   They have effectively eliminated personal attacks from the campaign, so voters will only have the issues to decide between the two.  

The facts are that Glorioso voted for House Bill 1355 which limited voter registration, early voting and was intended to curb in person voting fraud which is as common as frost in Frostproof.    This bill was overturned by Federal judges earlier this year.  Craig Latimer has restored integrity to the SOE and has a proven record of nearly forty years of service to Hillsborough County.  He is the only candidate that has actually run elections.  Latimer has also been endorsed by the Tampa Tribune in this race. 

This will be a race to watch to see who will break first and go negative.  It may also serve as an example of how civility and honor could be restored to political contests.  I am hoping it is the latter.