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He Devoted Time, Resources To Shaping Local Politics

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

TAMPA - TAMPA - Ralph Hughes poured millions of dollars of his own money into conservative beliefs, and helped shape the course of county politics by picking candidates he liked and backing them with advice and money.

A Republican Party stalwart and owner of a pre-cast concrete company, Hughes died Friday. He was 77. Friends said he had a heart attack.

"Ralph probably had more to do with the complexion of the commission becoming conservative than any other person I can think of," said former County Commissioner Joe Chillura. "He actually interviewed candidates who ran for office."

Through the years, Hughes contributed the maximum $500 allowed under state law to a long list of candidates.

He aggressively supported County Commissioners Jim Norman, Brian Blair and Ken Hagan, as well as former Commissioner Ronda Storms. Critics accused him of essentially buying a majority of the commission and then wielding his influence over them.

If he liked candidates, Hughes would endorse them, raise money and do "whatever he could, because he had a very genuine belief Hillsborough County was headed in the wrong direction," Chillura said.

Hughes believed that the county wasn't fiscally conservative enough, so much so that he underwrote a $150,000 study into the county's spending.

"He was the only guy I ever met who actually put his money where his mouth was," said Norman, a current commissioner.

A Hillsborough High Alumnus

Hughes grew up near Ybor City and attended Hillsborough High School, where he played football. He didn't attend college.

In his late teens, he dabbled in boxing.

He started working for Cast-Crete Corp. more than 40 years ago, said Hughes' son, Shea. He worked in sales and eventually worked his way up to vice president and then president and owner. The company started with five employees. Today, several hundred people work there.

Hughes and his wife, Betty, lived in Temple Terrace before moving into a $3 million, 8,800-square-foot waterfront home in South Tampa last year.

Work was important to him, and he enjoyed playing golf, "but his true passion was politics," Shea Hughes said. "Politics was his sports page."

Hillsborough County Republican Party Chairman David Storck called Hughes "an individual that was very committed to smaller government, less government controls on people, more personal freedom, and was very conservative about how our tax money should be spent."

County Tax Collector Doug Belden, whom Hughes supported, called him "as fiscally conservative as they come." The two served together on the board of Florida TaxWatch, a government spending watchdog group.

Hughes sometimes clashed with the east Hillsborough bloc of social conservatives who became important in county politics in the 1990s and 2000s.

In one of the toughest election battles of his career, he backed Norman in a 2002 primary for a county commissioner seat against Stacey Easterling, who was backed by east Hillsborough conservatives including Sam Rashid, a former ally of Hughes. Norman's win elevated Hughes' influence in county government.

In the 1990s, Hughes pushed hard to add a position for a county auditor to the county charter. It passed in 2002.

Father Of Local Conservatism

Hughes contributed a half-million dollars to the Foundation for Florida's Future, a think tank launched by Gov. Jeb Bush after Bush's 1994 defeat in his first race for governor.

In 2006, Hughes created an electioneering communications organization called Let's Make the World a Better Place Because We Have Been Here, and pumped $1 million in a single check into the fund.

Hughes was a frequent attendee at county commission meetings, where he spoke during the public comment portion of the meetings, Norman said.

He also was vocal on impact fees, believing that growth pays for itself and impact fees hurt the economy, Norman said.

Blair credited Hughes with giving him sound advice on political campaigns.

"I would call him the father of Hillsborough County conservative politics," Blair said. "If you took Ronald Reagan's platform against Ralph Hughes', you wouldn't find much difference."

Reporter William March contributed to this story. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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