Largo Mayor Pat Gerard has narrowly defeated state Representative Ed Hooper for the Pinellas County Commission district 2 seat.
Gerard brought in 51 percent of the vote verses Hooper’s 49 percent.
Hooper raised $241,000 throughout his campaign while Gerard only managed to bring in $200,000.
Both candidates took turns swapping ethics accusations at one another. Gerard kicked off the negative campaigning with a claim that Hooper was using his influence as a Tallahassee lawmaker to rake in profits in his private consulting company. Her accusations were mere conjecture at first, but nevertheless met by Hooper’s own allegations.
Hooper came forward with documentation that Gerard had used a Largo-sponsored trip to Tallahassee to solicit campaign funding from state donors. After denying those allegations, Gerard came up with some documentation of Hooper’s alleged wrong doing. His 50/50 partner in the Consus Group Gerard referenced was listed as an agent for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. That non-profit could have benefited from legislation Hooper supported that would have allowed the aquarium to apply for a portion of the county’s bed tax. The catch is the legislation gave a lot of non-profits, including other aquariums, access to the same perk.
Hooper/Gerard is replacing outgoing commissioner Norm Roche. Roche was outsted by Hooper during the August primary.
Gerard’s victory means the Pinellas County Commission now has a Democratic majority.
