At about this time last week, I was considering pulling a practical joke on my friend Commissioner John Morroni.
About 20 minutes before candidate qualifying was to close last Friday, I was going to call him, frantic, with news that a last-minute candidate was stepping up to challenge him this November. The best name I could come up with was former state legislator Kim Berfield, figuring that she was a serious enough name to spook Morroni, but obscure enough that he wouldn’t actually call her to confirm the rumor.
Oh, the hilarity.
Poor John, he’s never had a free pass to re-election. Not that any politician necessarily deserves one, but if anyone does, it has to be John Morroni. He won a very public battle against cancer (John’s struggle is the reason why I wore a LiveStrong bracelet years after they were fashionable) while remaining a populist voice on the Pinellas County Commission.
In the run-up to candidate qualifying, there was never a serious rumor about someone considering a run at John. Yet, I can imagine John crossing every finger last Friday while counting down the minutes until candidate qualifying closed.
That’s why I was going to call him and spin my tale of a last-minute candidate. But after what John has fought through, the man deserved peace.
Well, he won that peace and another four years in office. Congratulations, John.
