Although some local pundits always thought that Democrat Bob Henriquez had a decent shot to knock off Republican Ronda Storms in the race for Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, that sentiment seemed to change as the calendar moved toward November 6.
Perhaps that was because of an alleged internal poll that showed Henriquez down by double digits to Storms approximately six weeks ago.
But Henriquez worked hard, and raised much more money than Storms, the controversial former Hillsborough County Commissioner who had never won countywide in Florida. The final tally: Henriquez 52 percent, Storms 43 percent. The Democrat wins.
Speaking to CL late Tuesday night, Henriquez was analytical in assessing how he did it.
"I really think we ran a really smart race. Our polling showed that it was very difficult for her to move the needle, beyond her name recognition and built-in advantages that she had. We put together a smart campaign and worked our butts off. We had a great team, we canvassed around the county, in areas that people wouldn't have expected us to go, and basically raised the resources necessary to build our name ID to the point that our message was a hiring decision worked."
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.