Sharpe may suspend campaign

Column

Mark Sharpe was prepared for the news Friday afternoon from Tallahassee.

He suspected the new political district maps for congressional and legislative races would pass the state House, and he knew what it would mean to his plan to run for Kathy Castor's District 11 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

So he didn't waste much time after the House approved the new maps 80-39, basically voting along party lines.

"I don't like making formal statements or anything like that, but we're working on something that will explain a likely suspension of our campaign, at least until the court rules on this," said Sharpe, a Hillsborough County commissioner.

So there it goes. He said the official explanation will probably come next week.

The new district boundary appears to make it difficult, if not impossible, for any Republican to seriously challenge Castor. The district covers south Tampa, drifts over into south St. Petersburg, and even into a bit of Manatee. It skirts the more conservative east Hillsborough areas.

"We're not even talking uphill," Sharpe said. "It's straight vertical. I try to be as prudent with people's money as possible, but if I get into a race I need to raise a lot of money. I respect other people's money, so how can I ask people to contribute if the odds are like this?"

He left the door open.

"I'm not overly concerned about a lack of time if we wait until March," he said. "We could still get things together."

It would be an interesting race. Castor is a popular incumbent, a champion for jobs, education and the environment. She played a large role in securing the massive connector road project between Interstate 4 and the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

Sharpe would have been a worthy challenger. He is thoughtful, takes a long-range view, and isn't afraid to work with people from the other party to build the greater good.

It's a refreshing attitude, although sadly out of step in today's scorched-earth world of high-stakes politics. Sharpe saw this race as a chance on a larger stage to prove people can disagree and still work together to do the people's business.

This race would have been long on ideas, short on attacks.

"I am so disgusted by the way things have become," he said. "My goal would not be to injure Kathy Castor. I have respect for my opponents and respect for the President of the United States."

Respect for opponents? Respect for other ideas?

Interesting concept.

Sharpe is no stranger to this arena. He previously challenged the venerable Sam Gibbons and Jim Davis for seats in Congress. He lost, but got 48 percent of the vote against Gibbons.

This time, though, Sharpe probably will stay in the county commission, where he can serve through 2014.

"If the courts act as I suspect, which will be to sustain the Legislature's maps, at that time we'll make a final decision on what to do," he said. "My goal is to drive the whole issue of job creation, and if it could be a competitive race, I'd still like to do that."

The way Sharpe sees it though, that's the biggest "if" of all right now.