Cookie Kennedy wants to keep the Pinellas Commission seat for Democrats, but faces a stiff challenge from Chris Scherer

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

With the incumbent Democrat Janet Long retires, the race is open. The contest includes a political newcomer Chris Scherera Republican, against the former mayor of Indian Rocks Beach Cookie Kennedya democrat.

The Democrats must keep their seats if they want to avert further gains by the local Republican Party after the Republican Party claimed a majority on the Commission just two years ago. Republicans are hoping for a turnaround that will strengthen that advantage for years to come.

Kennedy, who took part in the race last Mayis a resident of Pinellas County. She served as mayor of Indian Rocks Beach for more than five years. She previously served as deputy chair of the Barrier Island Council of Government.

Kennedy’s other public service includes work on boards of the Tourist Development Council and as chairman of Forward Pinellas, the county’s metropolitan planning organization.

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

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

Scherer said he’s running “to protect and enhance what makes Pinellas special,” including a platform for environmental conservation; reducing taxes; setting term limits; supporting law enforcement; and securing elections.

The race will likely be close, but signs point to a Republican lead.

The most obvious advantage for the GOP this cycle is clear voter registration benefit. 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 who are not party members and more than 19,000 are registered with a third party.

That means Democrats will likely have to rely on support from no-party and third-party voters, while also hoping for some crossover support from registered Republicans.

While it poses a challenge for Kennedy, her support so far has also included bipartisan nods.

This summer, Kennedy deserved approval of the Pinellas and Central Pasco Realtor Organizations, groups that tend to support conservative candidates they see as softer on property rights.

The endorsements for Kennedy so far include a bipartisan list of current and former elected officials and community advocates. That includes the Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice; Pinellas County School Board Member Caprice Edmond; Mayor of Belleair Beach Dave Gattis; Mayor of Indian Shores Diantha Scheer; Dunedin Municipal Commissioner Jeff Gow; Mayor of Indian Rocks Beach Denise Huisberg; Mayor of North Redington Beach Bill Queen; Mayor of Redington Shores Lisa Hendrikson; Vice Mayor of Indian Rocks Beach Janet Wilson; Vice Mayor of Seminole Trish Springer; City Commissioner of Indian Shores Bill Smith; Commissioners of the City of Indian Rocks Beach John Bigelow And Judas Bond; Vice Mayor of Seminole Trish Springer; and member of the St. Pete City Council Gina Driscoll.

Scherer has now done that rounded support almost exclusively from conservativesincluding Sens. Nick DiCeglie And Ed Hooper; Pinellas County Commissioners Dave Eggers, Chris Latvala And Brian Scott; former education commissioner and speaker of the House of Representatives Richard Corcoran; former mayor of Sint-Pieters Rik Bakkerformer senator. Jeff Brandes; and more. Scherer also has support from the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association, among others.

Kennedy also faces one financing disadvantage. As of October 18, Kennedy had raised just under $151,000. Scherer, meanwhile, 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 had about $34,000 in his campaign account while his committee dried up. Kennedy only kept about $3,000.

The Republican Party has been eyeing Long’s seat for years, coming within striking distance four years ago but narrowly missing the opportunity to flip her seat. Long defeated Republican former Rep. Larry Ahern in that race by just 1 percentage point.

Republicans are also vying this year for the Democrat-held District 3 seat Charlie Justicewho was also narrowly re-elected four years ago. Justice faces a Republican challenger Vince Nowicki.

It is widely believed that if Republicans flip even one of these seats, it will be virtually impossible for Democrats to rebound and regain a majority within a decade. If Democrats hold on, strategists believe taking back a majority could be possible within a cycle or two.

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