Americans will elect a new president Tuesday, Nov. 8, but the presidential candidates aren’t the only ones on the ballot. In Hillsborough County, voters will elect representatives for Congress, State Attorney, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Property Appraiser and more.
In Hillsborough County, early voting began Monday, Oct. 24, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 6.
Florida residents must have registered to vote by Tuesday, Oct. 18, to vote in the 2016 election.
The early voting location in Plant City is Bruton Memorial Library, 302 W. McLendon St. Voters should bring two forms of identification to vote that include a signature and photo.
A list of polling locations can be found on VoteHillsborough.org.
On the Ballot
Representative in Congress, District 15
Dennis Ross (R)
Background: Dennis Ross graduated from Auburn University and later worked as a legislative aide in St. Petersburg to Rep. Dennis Jones in 1982. He completed law school at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and began working at Holland & Knight. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 2000 and served until he reached term limits in 2008. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2010. He has served on the Financial Services Community and as a Senior Deputy Majority Whip.
Priorities: Supporting opportunities for non-U.S. citizens to work in the agricultural sector while providing protections for U.S. citizen agricultural employees; combating citrus greening; ensuring no taxpayer funds are used for abortion.
Jim Lange (D)
Background: Jim Lange is a 20-year business consultant. In the past, he has worked as a mentor through Big Brothers, Big Sisters. He has served six years of humanitarian efforts in post-earthquake Haiti. His humanitarian efforts include service through Special Olympics as well as working as both an international humanitarian and
human rights activist.
Priorities: To create well-paying jobs through the restoration of roads and bridges; fighting for farm policies that will help family farms survive and prosper; reforming the existing federal student loan system; protecting women’s health and reproductive rights; allow Americans with existing student loans to refinance at low interest rates.
State Representative
Daniel Raulerson (R)
Background: Dan Raulerson was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. In the most recent session, he passed the “Pig Jam Bill” which was to exclude certain, temporary events from inspections that are regularly
conducted at restaurants and other food service establishments. He is a graduate of Florida State University and is a certified public accountant. He served as the Deputy Majority Whip from 2012 to 2014 and again from 2014 to 2016. He has served on the board of the United Food Bank of Plant City and is a former mayor and commissioner of the City of Plant City.
Priorities: Reducing the state budget by cutting duplicate programs and positions and focusing on state spending on essential services; cutting the red tape to create real jobs by removing outdated and costly regulations that destroy jobs and local businesses; returning control to the local level.
Jose Vazquez (D)
Background: Jose Vazquez created the political and security consulting business Vazquez Enterprise Multiple Service. He is a former security guard and security consultant. He holds an institute and paramedic training certificate as well as a security training certificate from the state of Florida and EDIC College
Priorities: Benefitting the interest of families, communities and the future; fighting to protect environment, civil and individual rights; reducing crime.
Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller
Eric Seidel (R)
Background: Eric Seidel is a consumer lawyer who hosted the Ask-A-Lawyer program on FOX 13 for 15 years.
He served on the Hillsborough Clerk of Court’s Value Adjustment Board and is a member of the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce and the Hillsborough Bar Association. He is active with Hands Across the Bay.
Priorities: Helping consumers of the clerk’s office; improving services for filing and providing legal documents; improving the website with the use of videos and ease of access.
Pat Frank (D)
Background: Incumbent Pat Frank has served on the Hillsborough County School Board and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. She also has served in the Florida House of Representatives and the
Florida Senate. She has over 50 awards for public service.
Priorities: Getting adequate funding for the clerk’s office; continuing to digitize the office; rewarding employees and creating good morale.
Property Appraiser
Todd Jones (R)
Background: Todd Jones holds an MBA from the University of South Florida. He has MAI, CRE and FRICS appraisal designations and is an internationally recognized expert in property tax valuation and policy. He is a mentor to hundreds of young professionals and serves as an educator for the Appraisal Institute, the Florida Bankers School and the University of Florida graduate business school.
Priorities: Creating a user-friendly transparent website for the public and real estate professionals; creating stable tax revenues and fair taxation; growing the local economy by encouraging major capital investment.
Bob Henriquez (D)
Background: Bob Henriquez has served as the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser since 2013. He reduced
the office’s operating costs and the office earned the Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration Award. He was responsible for launching the new HCPA website and replaced the HCPA’s car and truck fleet with hybrid vehicles. While in office, he partnered with Commissioner Al Higginbotham to pass a county sinkhole ordinance for registry and tracking.
Priorities: Continuing to make the office more efficient and effective; continuing outreach and communication efforts to demystify the property tax process; continuing to fine tune internal quality systems and instituting a system that helps property owners determine if they qualify for tax breaks.
County Commissioner, District 6
Tim Schock (R)
Background: Tim Schock is the owner of Lightning Capital Consulting Technology and Transportation Systems. He is a board member of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and a volunteer for Metropolitan Ministries. He is a founding member for Schools of Haiti and a coach for Tampa Bay Little League. He earned his MBA from Duke University and is an active member of Grace Family Church in Lutz.
Priorities: Promoting small business development; creating transportation solutions that work; serving as a leader with integrity.
Pat Kemp (D)
Background: Pat Kemp is a lawyer and solar panel salesperson. She serves as the Conservation and Legal Chair of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club as well as the chairperson for the Democratic Party of Hillsborough County and the
Environmental Caucus of Florida. She is the past president of the Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association. She has served on the board for Tampa Crossroads for Veterans and Homeless as well as a chief aide to Congresswoman Kathy Castor.
Priorities: Transit and transportation; smart growth; 100% renewable future by 2050.
School Board Member, District 7
Lynn Gray
Background: Lynn Gray has over 26 years of teaching experience. She was selected as Teacher of the Year Twice and served for 16 years as an instructor and department head in Hillsborough County Public Schools. She served for nine years as a department head at Jesuit High School and three years as a part-time adjunct instructor for JMJ of Tampa Bay Homeschooling. She is the president of a nonprofit children fitness advocacy club called Take … The First Step Club.
Priorities: Creating healthier children by bringing back recess and introducing healthier food into schools; improving literacy by fostering a love of reading; creating advocacy programs to help children achieve their potential.
Cathy James
Background: Cathy James is the finance manager for the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative Inc., a position she’s held since June 2010. She has served on the Hillsborough School Board Citizen Advisory Committee since
2014 and was elected vice chair in the 2015-16 school year. She is the Middleton High School PTSA president. In the past, she served on the Hillsborough County Anti-Bullying Advisory Committee and the Orange Grove Middle Magnet School of the Arts PTSA Board.
Priorities: Creating a finance committee comprised of school board members and community members; advocating for the special needs community by making sure all laws for services are complied with; promoting the district’s vision of preparing students for life.
State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit
Mark Ober (R)
Background: Mark Ober was first elected as State Attorney in 2000 and was successfully re-elected in 2004, 2009 and 2013. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1977 and entered private practice 10 years later. Before becoming the Hillsborough County State Attorney, he handled over 40 first-degree murder cases and chaired over 250 criminal jury trials. He is a recipient of the Jack Edmund Award from the American Inn of Court and the President’s Award from the Tampa Bay Chiefs of Police.
Andrew Warren (D)
Background: Andrew Warren has served with the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly a decade. He has served as a lead federal prosecutor in white-collar crime and corruption cases, including investment schemes and Medicare fraud. He earned the 2013 Attorney General Award for Trial Litigation. He is a graduate of Brandeis
University and an honors graduate from Columbia University Law School. He belongs to the Hillsborough County Bar and Federal Bar Associations and volunteers with both Trinity Café and Feeding Tampa Bay.
Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 24
Gary Dolgin
Background: Gary Dolgin is a board certified marital and family law attorney who also practices in the area of criminal defense. He has had a private practice in Tampa since 1993. He is certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in marital and family law and is a certified family law mediator by the Florida Supreme Court. He has served as an assistant public defender and Assistant State Attorney. He is immediate past president of the Tampa Bay Tiger Club, a member of downtown Tampa Rotary and a baseball coach for Tampa Bay Little League.
Melissa Polo
Background: Melissa Polo received her bachelor’s degree from University of Florida and her juris doctorate from Loyola University School of Law. She has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1996. She has worked as a
Florida State Prosecutor with the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office and later went to work for Martino, Price & Associates to practice in the areas of personal injury. She worked for various other firms before starting her own practice in 2009. She is a lifetime member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa and has served as the co-chair for the Juvenile Justice Council Planning Committee.
Also On The Ballot
Presidential Candidates
– Donald J. Trump/Mike Pence
– Hillary Rodham Clinton/Timothy Kaine
– Gary Johnson/Bill Weld
– Darrell L. Castle/Scott N. Bradley
– Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka
– Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg
U.S. Senate
– Marco Rubio
– Patrick Murphy
– Paul Stanton
– Tony Khoury
– Bruce Nathan
– Steven Machat
– Basil E. Dalack
Should the following judges be retained?
Hillsborough County
– Justice Charles T. Canady, Justice of the Supreme Court
– Justice Jorge Labarga, Justice of the Supreme Court
– Justice Ricky L. Polston, Justice of the Supreme Court
– Judge John Badalamenti, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Marva L. Crenshaw, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Patricia J. Kelly, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Nelly N. Khouzam, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Matt Lucas, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Robert Morris, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Steven Travis Northcutt, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Samuel Salario Jr., Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Craig C. Villanti, Second District Court of Appeal
– Judge Douglas Alan Wallace, Second District Court of Appeal
Soil and Water, Group 2
– Christopher Carlos Cano
– Erik S. Challenger Sr.
– Kim O’Connor
– David R. Phillips Jr.
– Deborah Tamargo
Soil and Water, Group 4
– Nicholas Tobasco Bissett
– Susan Dumke
– Joshua S. Knezinek
Election Amendments
Yes or No
Amendment 1: Solar Energy: This amendment establishes a right under Florida’s constitution for consumers to own or lease solar equipment installed on their property to generate electricity for their own use. State and local governments shall retain their abilities to protect consumer rights and public health, safety and welfare.
Amendment 2: Medical Marijuana: This amendment allows the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating medical conditions as determined by a licensed Florida physician. Caregivers can assist patients’ medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health shall register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes.
Amendment 3: Tax Exemption for First Responders: This amendment is an amendment to the state Constitution. It would authorize a first responder who is disabled from injuries in the line of duty to receive relief from ad valorem taxes assessed on homestead property. If approved, the amendment would go into effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Amendment 5: Homestead Tax Exemption for Certain Senior Residents: This State Constitution amendment would revise the homestead tax exemption that may be granted by counties or municipalities for property with just value less than $250,000 owned by certain senior, low-income, long-term residents to specify that just value is determined in the first tax year the owner applies and is eligible for the exemption.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.