Qualifying Ends; Political Season Begins In Earnest

BROOKSVILLE - The races are on.

The qualifying period for candidates seeking offices ranging from county commissioner to U.S. Congress ended at noon Friday.

A few races are a little less crowded than expected as some candidates dropped out or failed to qualify.

County Commissioner Diane Rowden, for example, will no longer have to do battle in a primary after her lone Democratic challenger withdrew.

Here's who is running for what:

U.S. House District 5

The incumbent:

Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville.

The Republican challenger: Jim King of Land O' Lakes.

The Democratic challengers: Carol Castagnero of Lakeland; John Russell of Dade City; and H. David Werder of Spring Hill.

Florida House District 44

The incumbent:

Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill.

The Democratic challenger: Joseph Charles Puglia of Brooksville. Aaron K. Whittaker of Brooksville also filed to run, but the state's Division of Elections hadn't confirmed by press time whether he had qualified.

The Green Party challenger: Sarah Roman of New Port Richey.

Florida Senate District 11

The incumbent: Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

The Democratic challengers: Richard Skandera of Palm Harbor and Fred Taylor of New Port Richey.

Florida Senate District 15

The incumbent:

Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, is unopposed.

County Commission, District 1

The incumbent:

Jeff Stabins, a Spring Hill Republican.

The Republican challengers: Michael Burmann of Spring Hill and Jon "Jaz" Zydenbos of Weeki Wachee.

The Democratic challenger: Ramon Gutierrez of Brooksville.

County Commission, District 3

The incumbent:

Diane Rowden, a Brooksville Democrat.

The Republican challengers: John Druzbick of Weeki Wachee; Hubert "Wayne" Dukes of Hernando Beach; and Charles Gaskin of Brooksville.

County Commission, District 5

The incumbent:

Christopher Kingsley, a Brooksville Democrat.

The Republican challengers: James Adkins of Brooksville; William "Billy" Healis of Brooksville; and Michael Robinson of Spring Hill.

No Democrat filed to run.

Clerk of Court

The incumbent:

Karen Nicolai of Spring Hill is running unopposed after her lone challenger dropped out of the race last week.

Property appraiser

The incumbent:

Alvin Mazourek of Brooksville is running unopposed after his lone challenger withdrew in April.

Sheriff

The incumbent:

Richard Nugent, a Spring Hill Republican.

The challenger: Luke Frazier, a Brooksville Democrat.

Supervisor of Elections

The incumbent:

Annie Williams, a Brooksville Democrat.

The Republican challenger: Shirley Anderson of Spring Hill.

The no-party-affiliation challenger: Gus Guadagnino of Brooksville.

Tax collector

The incumbent:

Juanita Sikes, a Brooksville Democrat, is unopposed.

School board, District 2

Incumbent:

Pat Fagan of Spring Hill so far has no challengers.

School board, District 4

The incumbent:

None. Jim Malcolm, who served five terms over 16 years, decided not to run again.

The candidates: Gene Magrini, Robert Neuhausen and James Yant, all of Spring Hill.

County judge, Group 2 seat

The incumbent:

Judge Kurt E. Hitzemann of Spring Hill is unopposed.

Spring Hill Fire Rescue Commission

The incumbents:

Robert J. Giammarco and George Biro.

The challengers: Amy Brosnan, Benjamin Edwards, James Monk and John Pasquale. Candidates must live in Spring Hill to run for the seat.