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County Board Seats Held

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: November 5, 2008

Pasco County voters returned incumbent County Commissioners Ann Hildebrand and Jack Mariano to their seats on the five-member board Tuesday.

The incumbents, both Republicans, beat their Democratic challengers in tight races in which the vote margins in both contests were less than 10 percent.

With 100 percent of the county's 154 precincts reporting, Hildebrand defeated newcomer Terri Conroy 53 percent to 47 percent. Mariano defeated Ginny Miller, a veteran New Port Richey city councilwoman, 54 percent to 46 percent.

For Hildebrand, 70, Tuesday's race was her seventh and last. She has said she intends to retire at the end of her new term.

Hildebrand and Conroy both expressed their surprise at how close the race was.

"I was saying that all along the Obama coattails were going to be a big issue and obviously they were," Hildebrand said.

Conroy, 49, took her loss in stride.

"That's all right, I gave her a hell of a fight," said Conroy, who carried a message of change against her veteran opponent. "I came closer than anybody has before."

Conroy said she plans to run again in four years.

Hildebrand said she looks forward to continuing with other commissioners. She noted, though, that difficult economic times could make their jobs challenging.

"Next year it's going to be an even tougher road because of declining property values, yet people still want services," Hildebrand said.

Mariano's victory gives him a second term on the commission four years after he defeated Peter Altman.

Mariano echoed Hildebrand's sentiment that the interest in the presidential race narrowed his margin over Miller.

"Tighter than I expected it to be - and everyone else," Mariano said. "I think I was dealing with the Obama factor."

Miller declined to say whether she thought the enthusiasm surrounding the Democratic presidential candidate may have bolstered her numbers.

Miller couldn't say if she might run again in four years.

Mariano said he looks forward to Pasco's rise as a business-friendly location during his second term. In the coming years, the county will adopt new land-development rules in response to an analysis by the Urban Land Institute.

Mariano cited today's county commission vote on an economic incentive package for investment firm T. Rowe Price, which is considering Pasco for a 1,200-person expansion project, as an example of Pasco's future path. That expansion could bring more than 1,600 high-wage jobs to the State Road 54 corridor.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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