The District 1 race for the Pinellas County Commission is a pivotal one for Democrats and an opportunity for Republicans.

With the current Democrat Janet Long retire, the race is open. The race faces the political newcomer Chris SchererRepublican, against the former mayor of Indian Rocks Beach kennedy cookiea democrat.

Democrats must keep the seat if they want avoid higher profits by the local Republican Party after the GOP won a majority on the Commission just two years ago. Republicans are waiting for a turn that will solidify that advantage for years to come.

Kennedy, who entered the race last Mayis a native of Pinellas County. She served as mayor of Indian Rocks Beach for more than five years. She previously served as vice president of the Barrier Island Government Council.

Kennedy’s other public service includes serving on boards of directors for the Tourism Development Council and as president of Forward Pinellas, the county’s metropolitan planning organization.

Scherer entered the race about two months before Kennedy, at the end of last February. Scherer, a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in finance, has lived in Pinellas County for 30 years. the fund Scherer development in 1994, a company that provides its clients with development services ranging from site selection and design to construction, leasing and property management.

Scherer served from 2010 to 2016 on the St. Pete Development Review Commission.

Scherer he said he’s running “protect and enhance what makes Pinellas special,” which includes an environmental preservation platform; lower taxes; enact term limits; support law enforcement; and secure the elections.

The race is likely to be close, but signs point to a Republican advantage.

The most obvious advantage for the Republican Party in this cycle is a clear voter registration advantage. Republicans outnumber Democrats on the voter rolls by about 35,000 voters, with more than 207,000 Democrats and just under 243,000 Republicans. There are also more than 168,000 voters without party affiliation and more than 19,000 registered third party voters.

That means Democrats will likely have to rely on support from nonpartisan and third-party voters, while hoping for some crossover support from registered Republicans.

While it represents a challenge to Kennedy, his support so far has included bipartisan nods.

This summer, Kennedy got an endorsement of the Pinellas and Central Pasco Realtors Organizations, groups that tend to support conservative candidates they consider more lenient on property rights issues.

Kennedy endorsements so far include a bipartisan list of current and former elected officials and community advocates. That includes, but is not limited to, the Pinellas County commissioner. charlie justice; Pinellas County School Board Member Caprice Edmond; Belleair Beach Mayor David Gattis; Mayor of Indian Shores Diantha Schear; Dunedin City Commissioner Jeff Gow; Mayor of Indian Rocks Beach Denise Houseberg; Mayor of North Redington Beach bill queen; Mayor of Redington Shores Lisa Hendrickson; Vice Mayor of Indian Rocks Beach Janeth Wilson; Seminole Vice Mayor Trish Springer; Indian Shores City Commissioner Bill Smith; Indian Rocks Beach City Commissioners John Bigelow and Judas Bond; Seminole Vice Mayor Trish Springer; and member of the St. Pete City Council Gina Driscoll.

Scherer, for his part, has rounded support almost exclusively conservativesincluding Sens. Nick DiCeglie and Ed Hooper; Pinellas County Commissioners David Eggers, Chris Latvala and Brian Scott; former Commissioner of Education and Speaker of the House of Representatives Richard Corcoran; former mayor of St. Pete Rick Bakerformer senator Jeff Brandes; and more. Scherer also has the support of the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association, among other groups.

Kennedy also faces a funds disadvantage. As of October 18, Kennedy had raised just under $151,000. Meanwhile, Scherer had raised nearly $169,000 for his official campaign and another nearly $175,000 for his affiliated political committee. Friends of Chris Scherer. According to the most recent reports, Scherer kept about $34,000 in his campaign account, and his committee had been depleted. Kennedy kept only about $3,000.

The GOP has been eyeing Long’s seat for years — he came within striking distance four years ago — but narrowly missed the chance to flip his seat. Long defeated The former Republican representative Larry Ahern in that race by just 1 percentage point.

Republicans this year are also competing for the District 3 seat held by the Democrat. charlie justicewho also narrowly won re-election four years ago. Justice faces the Republican rival Vince Nowicki.

It is widely believed that if Republicans lose even one of these seats, it will be nearly impossible for Democrats to rally and regain the majority in the next decade. If Democrats hold them, strategists believe it would be possible to regain the majority in one or two cycles.

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