As the campaign teams of Republican Ken Hagan and Democrat Linda Saul-Sena exchange insults in the wake of a Republican party based lawsuit challenging Saul-Sena's status on the November ballot in their Hillsborough County Commission race, the independent in the race, Jim Hosler, says he doesn't have to time for such distractions. He calls it all "high school melodrama."
The 57-year-old former Hillsborough county planner has plenty to say about the race for the District 5 County Commission seat, though he reserves most of his fire for Hagan.
Hosler is reveling in his 10% show of support revealed last week in a poll commissioned by the Saul-Sena camp and produced by the Kitchens Group (which otherwise showed the two major party candidates tied at 32% each). Hosler is in particular seizing on the 25% who say they are undecided about the race.
"I think the large number of undecideds shows that there are a large number of people unsatisfied with those candidates," he said by telephone on Monday. Hosler says he hears people out in the community tell him that they're glad that there's an independent candidate to vote for in the fall.
"I need to get my name out there more," he says of how he'll raise his poll numbers. "I've got plenty of time to do that," adding that if the poll is accurate (which Team Hagan says is not the case ) it's positive news. "I had people tell me there's no way I'd get 10%." up ..it's going to break for me..I just gotta let people know, get to my web site…I'm in this for job growth, and fiscal accountability and fewer task forces."
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2010.