Times endorses Kemp; Trib endorses Cruz in District 58 Democratic Primary

"This is an exceptionally hard call. Voters cannot go wrong. But Kemp is more the party activist, and we suspect Cruz would be more effective in the Republican-dominated Legislature."

Meanwhile, Kemp will be a no-show at today's candidate debate scheduled for this afternoon at the West Tampa Library.

That shouldn't be a shock, after a press release was issued on Thursday that said two of the three panelists asking questions of the candidates were quoted in an earlier CL blog posting this week as criticizing Kemp (Patrick Manteiga and Mark Beiro).  However, we're sorry not to see how the debate might have played out with Kemp present.

Kemp told CL this morning that if the event were being sponsored by the West Tampa Chamber or another civic association, she would definitely appear at the event, but "we don't need any ugly dissension," referring to published remarks by Manteiga that the District 58 position is considered a Hispanic seat, and she shouldn't be running for it.

Both the Times and the Tribune also endorsed Jackie Rojas-Quinones over Hunter Chamberlin in the GOP Primary.