Pinellas County Commissioner Charlie Justice, a Democrat was up against some big money in 2012 when he ran for the seat (after having been a Democratic State Senator and State Representative) .
He was also up against some big money in 2016 against Republican Mike Mikurak for the countywide seat the night the county went for Donald Trump.
But in the end, despite its Trump-ward leanings, Pinellas County chose Justice to represent them again at the dais.
Mikurak, or his people, anyway, sent out plenty of mailers attempting to paint Justice as a "career politician" who didn't have the interests of his constituents. Justice said his campaign, meanwhile, stayed positive.
"We never mentioned him. We talked about we had done for Pinellas County. He cannot say anywhere near the same thing," he said. "We're very proud that we were able to be positive in every piece of mail, every T.V. thing we did, all communication was very positive, and he just kept throwing mud. And his material was, I wouldn't use the word throwing mud, but everything he did was incredibly misleading."
As for the charge of "career politician," he said:
"Pinellas County likes longevity. Pinellas County likes people who know what they're doing. Think about some of the people who were elected in Pinellas County and how long they were able to serve. I don't think that holds a lot of water."
