Voters in Hillsborough County have a unique opportunity to shape their county government for generations, especially on county commission. Six seats are up for grabs, and there’s a referendum that could increase membership from seven commissioners to nine, with an increase to 11 members once the county has a population of at least 2.5 million; Hillsborough Referendum No. 2 would also eliminate the commission’s three countywide seat.
Hillsborough County Commission, District 5 (countywide): Neil Manimala
Neil Manimala may be the only person who can save residents from the tyranny of cars.
Traffic is probably the best indicator of Hillsborough County’s problematic growth patterns. Each new resident adds friction to a poorly-planned, unsustainable infrastructure. Vehicles kill drivers and pedestrians constantly. The pollution from cars is bad for our health and the environment. It costs more to own a car in Florida than just about anywhere, but it’s impossible to get around without a car.
There’s only one candidate for county commission who has proposed a comprehensive solution to cars: Neil Manimala.
If Manimala is telling the truth, he’s going to work competently with both parties to fix public transit and reduce the strain on our roads.
His opponent, Stacy Hahn, mercifully knocked incumbent Donna Cameron Cepeda off commission in the summer primary. It’s a miracle that Cepeda even made it to commission in the first place, since she was a full-throated InfoWars stan with a husband that is a self-proclaimed prophet (blame Charlie Crist, whose gubernatorial race undoubtedly hurt Democrats down ticket in 2022).
Unlike Cepeda, Hahn probably doesn’t go to a church whose minister claims to have cured zika. Her eight years on the Hillsborough County School Board mean she knows the county well, but Manimala has proven to be a hard-worker ready to bring fresh ideas to the dais.
If the only thing Manimala does while on the county commission is make it possible to live in Hillsborough County without a car, then he will have saved hundreds of lives, saved residents millions of dollars, and cured the chronic quality-of-life crisis that is car-based society.
Vote Manimala for Hillsborough County Commission or sit in traffic every day forever.—Valerie Smith
Hillsborough County Commission, District 7 (countywide): Aileen Rodriguez
Some people like incumbent Joshua Wostal because he “ruffles feathers.” The kind of disruption the UPS Store owner brings to the dais is not good for locals, from his opposition to Hillsborough’s landmark healthcare program for low-income residents, funding for local arts, or even his refusal to sign commendations for Tampa Pride and the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA) Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast. He’s also not a coalition builder. Just look at his opposition to giving a taxpayer-funded handout to the Tampa Bay Rays. The position should’ve been popular with anyone with half a brain, but “Hostile Wostal” could only get Donna Cepeda—the commissioner whose husband is a self-proclaimed prophet—to go along with him in voting “No” on funding.
Don’t even mention the $50,000 late-in-the-cycle check the Friends of Joshua Wostal PAC got from developer Homes by West Bay; it’s the single largest contribution the PAC has ever received and brings the developer’s total contributions to more than $62,000. The next highest donor to the PAC is Sarasota attorney Martin Garcia, who’s connected to the lawsuit that killed Hillsborough County’s All For Transportation Tax.
Residents across the county deserve a more even-keeled leader, and that’s Eileen Rodriguez. The former director for U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez filed to run in January, but she’s been in the community for even longer. At seemingly every event, Rodriguez is there, listening, not getting caught up in conflict, and instead presenting common sense, pragmatic ideas to improve transit and grow responsibly. Rodriguez even beat back a last-minute entry into the race by popular former Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Cindy Stuart.
With the potential for an expanded commission, the county needs a voice that can unify, not divide.—Ray Roa
Hillsborough County School Board, District 2: Daniela Simic
Former Tampa Bay Young Republican president Brittany Lyssy wants voters to believe that she lives in a roughly 400-square-foot condo in downtown Tampa with two kids and her husband, whose homesteaded beach house is actually one county over in Longboat Key. She also wants voters to believe that she had nothing to do with her political group’s decison to invite the Tate brothers to speak in Tampa AFTER they were charged with rape and sex trafficing. Lyssy has zero background in public education, and a history of politicizing school rooms. So one has to wonder why exactly she’s even running for this position, except perhaps to use it as a political stepping stone to something bigger.
The bottom line is we don’t believe that she’s qualified, motivated or even lives in Hillsborough County. Then there’s Daniela Simic, qualified beyond comparison.
Simic, a former teacher, has a bachelor’s in elementary education, a master’s in educational policy and leadership, was an assistant superintendent in Hillsborough County, worked for Florida’s Bureau of School Improvement, was the vice president of advocacy for the Hillsborough County Council PTA (Parent-Teacher Association), and so on, and so on, and so on. Clearly, no one is more prepared and ready to serve teachers and students in Hillsborough County than Daniela Simic.—Colin Wolf
Hillsborough County School Board, District 6 (countywide): Karen Perez
School board races are supposed to be non-partisan, but sometimes you have to look at the money to see where people stand. According to finance records, Ken Gay’s single largest donor to his campaign is the Hillsborough County Republican Party, which gave him $5K back in September, and endorsed him for this race. This is the same anti-union, local political group that moans about DEI and muslims in classrooms and still thinks the biggest singular issue in education is transgenders kids using a bathroom somewhere. Hillsborough voters are tired of this rage-bate, and frankly there’s no reason to not re-elect Karen Perez. A social worker and strong advocate for public schools, Perez is clearly the most qualified for this post.—Colin Wolf
Hillsborough County Commission, District 1: Harry Cohen
Hillsborough County Commission, District 3: Gwen Myers
Hillsborough Referendums
Hillsborough Referendum No. 1, Elected School Superintendent: NO
Hillsborough Referendum No. 2, Larger County Commission, All Single-Member Districts: NO
Hillsborough Referendum No. 3, School Sales Tax Renewal: YES
Temple Terrace City Council (vote for up to three): Karen Michalski, Ryan Gessman*
*yes, we only felt comfortable with two candidates
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This article appears in Oct. 22 – 28, 2026.
