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County Commission's Norman To Run For State Senate

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By MIKE SALINERO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 3, 2008

Updated: 04/03/2008 12:13 am

TAMPA - Facing term limits in two years, longtime Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman on Wednesday filed papers to run for the state Senate in 2010.

Norman, a Republican, will be running for the seat in District 12, which covers north-central Hillsborough and most of central and western Pasco County.

Norman has been on the commission for 15 years, including five terms as chairman and four as vice chairman.

Term limits mean that he can't run for re-election in 2010, and his name had often been mentioned as a possible candidate for county mayor.

Part of the reason for announcing his Senate bid so early, Norman said, was to put the rumors to rest. He says he plans on running for state Senate even if voters later this year approve the new position of county mayor.

"I don't want to be one of those guys that flip-flops around," Norman said.

An avid sports enthusiast, Norman has championed expansion of the county parks system and helped to form the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.

Norman's passion for sports resulted in his worst political defeat last year when commissioners soundly rejected his proposal for a $40-million sports complex in a rural area near Plant City. Norman said the park would be a big money-maker for the county, drawing soccer, baseball and softball tournaments from across the United States and even overseas.

In his last election run in 2006, Norman received an unusually stiff challenge from Tampa strip club king Joe Redner. Spending little money and confining his campaigning to the city of Tampa, Redner nonetheless received nearly 40 percent of the vote.

State Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, also filed this week to run for the Senate seat in 2010. Ambler is also running for re-election to the state House in November.

The state Senate seat Norman is seeking is now held by Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who also faces term limits in 2010. Crist has been rumored as a candidate for Norman's county commission seat. Crist said Wednesday that though the commission seat would be a "perfect fit," he is focusing on his job as chairman of the Senate Justice Appropriations Committee.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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