Over the weekend, a new television ad that targets Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe for his support of the penny sales tax referendum for transportation hit local television stations. Watch below:
The ad is produced by the Orlando-based anti-tax group Ax The Tax, led by its chairman, Doug Guetzloe.
Guetzloe will be holding a news conference Monday morning to talk more about the campaign.
Previously, the only official group organized against the transit referendum that Hillsborough voters will decide on November 2 was a small grass-roots Tea Party-based group called NoTaxforTracks.com.
The St. Petersburg Times reported last week that the pro-transit referendum group, Moving Hillsborough Forward, has raised $1 million.
Sharpe is being challenged for re-election for his District 7 countywide seat by fellow Republican Josh Burgin. Burgin has said the main reason he got into the race was to challenge Sharpe for his support of the transit referendum, which would if approved allow for construction of a light rail transit system in the county, as well as pay for improved bus service and road improvements.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2010.