Juvenile Welfare Board member Mike Mikurak is no longer just eyeing a 2016 Pinellas County Commission seat; he’s now filed to run for one.
Mikurak, a 61-year-old Republican from St. Petersburg, will be running for the county’s District 3 seat — an at-large seat for which all of Pinellas votes on. The seat’s district encompasses most of St. Pete, and all of St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island and Madeira Beach.
“I’ve never run for election before,” said Mikurak to SaintPetersBlog. “I’ve never been in elected office.”
However, after being encouraged to run for Pinellas County Commission a few months back, Mikurak began doing his research, his “due diligence,” as he put it, before deciding the move was right for him.
“I’m a retired businessman ready to bring my experience and knowledge to County Commission.”
In August 2013, Mikurak, whose 30-plus-year career has primarily been in both global and small business strategy and supply-chain management, was appointed to a three-year term on Pinellas’ Juvenile Welfare Board by Gov. Rick Scott.
Currently, he serves as the chairman of BayCare Health System’s Audit Committee. He’s also a member of BayCare’s Board of Directors, the CareerSource Pinellas Board, and the Science, Technology, Education and Innovation Center (STEIC) Board of Trustees.
Mikurak’s campaign will hinge on three core principles:
- Creating sustainable jobs and economic development.
- Improving communications between Pinellas County, its cities, the county government, and the private sector.
- And focusing on citizens’ quality of life.
“We live in paradise,” concluded Mikurak. “Everyone here should enjoy it.”
So far, he’s the only candidate who has filed to run for Pinellas’ District 3 Commission seat, and only the second candidate who’s filed to run for County Commission at all — the other being District 1 incumbent Janet Long, a 70-year-old Democrat from Seminole who filed to run for re-election back in May.
However, Commissioners Ken Welch, Karen Seel, and Charlie Justice, according to SaintPetersBlog‘s Mitch Perry, will all be running for their respective seats in 2016 as well.
For Mikurak, the candidate to watch will be Justice, the current District 3 Commission seat-holder and County Commission vice chair.
Justice, a 47-year-old Democrat and Pinellas native, served in both the Florida House and Senate before winning a County Commission seat in 2012.
He briefly spoke with SaintPetersBlog this afternoon.
“[I’m] incredibly proud of the important work we’re doing on the County Commission,” said Justice when asked about his intentions to run for re-election in 2016. “Others talk partisanship, we talk partnerships.
“We’re working with our community partners to improve the quality of life in Pinellas,” said Justice, before adding: “I look forward to continuing.”
County Commission seats for Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 will all be up for grabs during the 2016 general election, which falls on Nov. 8.
