Area State House Races Heat Up

TAMPA - Incumbents in two state House districts representing Central and South Tampa face opposition in their campaigns for reelection.

But the race in another local district will be a cakewalk for the incumbent after election officials disqualified a felon from running.

The primary is Aug. 26, and the general election is Nov. 4.

State representatives serve two-year terms at an annual salary of $30,996.

DISTRICT 57

Democratic activist Yvonne Capin is challenging incumbent Republican Faye Culp for the District 57 seat.

The district covers South Tampa and portions of Town 'N Country and Westchase. Each of the two major parties claims about 40 percent of the district electorate, with the balance registered as independents.

Capin, 58, is a Tampa native who has worked behind the scenes in campaigns for Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern, Florida gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith and presidential candidate John Kerry.

Capin and her husband, Juan, hosted presidential candidate Barack Obama's 2007 visit to Ybor City.

"I feel I have a duty to step forward," Capin said of her new role as a candidate. "I love Florida, and I hate what I'm seeing."

She said the Legislature has failed to solve the state's property tax and property insurance problems.

The Capins, who live in South Tampa, worked together in the jewelry business and own a small strip center at 7536 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

Culp, 68, represented the district from 1994 to 1998, then ran unsuccessfully for state education commissioner and lost a state Senate bid. She was reelected in 2002, 2004 and 2006, easily defeating Democratic and Green party challengers.

If elected, this would be her last consecutive term due to state limits.

"Over my career, my biggest and proudest achievement would be my constituent work," said the South Tampa resident, a former teacher and Hillsborough County School Board member.

She said she wants to keep pushing for tougher penalties for animal cruelty and additional funding to help teens moving out of foster care.

She said she would consider voting to allow drilling off Florida's coast.

Culp has $12,500 in campaign funds, state records show. She expects to raise about $60,000.

Capin said she is beginning to raise money.

DISTRICT 58

Democrat Michael Scionti will run unopposed for a second-term in his District 58 seat, which includes West Tampa, parts of Seminole Heights, Sulphur Springs, the West Shore business district and Town 'N Country.

Write-in hopeful Jose N. Vazquez was disqualified because he wrote only his first name on the notarized qualification papers, said Jennifer Davis, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State.

Vazquez, who also filed to run against Scionti in 2006, is serving two years in a Bay County prison for driving with a revoked license. He is scheduled for release in January.

"He is not a qualified candidate," Davis said.

"If in fact that is the case, I am pleased to be able to represent the district and try to fight for the issues that are important to my constituents," Scionti said.

The 39-year-old lawyer is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and serves in the Judge Advocate General's Corps and military intelligence.

Scionti and his wife, Zsuzsanna, live in Egypt Lake.

"As a freshman legislator, I tried to listen as much as I could before I voted and formulated an opinion," he said. "I'll take that to my second term."

Scionti said state issues are many, but he defined the crucial themes as tax relief and reform, homeowners insurance, health care and education. For his district, he added transportation.

"I try to find common ground," he said.

DISTRICT 59

It will be election redux, with modifications, in the race for District 59.

Incumbent Betty Reed, who is seeking a second term, faces lawyer Warren Hope Dawson in the Democratic primary. The winner will go against write-in candidate Geraldine Emmons.

In 2006, Dawson lost to Reed by 307 votes in the primary. Reed went on to win the general election against Republican Willis "K.C." Bowick.

The district covers the city's urban core but also stretches into Hillsborough County, with neighborhoods in the University Area, Palm River, Clair-Mel City, Progress Village, East Tampa, West Tampa and portions of Temple Terrace.

Dawson has practiced law in Tampa for more than 40 years. He was Tampa's first black assistant city attorney and represented the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the federal lawsuit that desegregated Hillsborough County public schools.

Last year, the East Tampa resident was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the National Bar Association.

Dawson, 68, said residents "need a champion or someone capable of showing solid leadership. ... Reed was at best a follower, not a leader."

Reed said it is up to the voters, but added, "I have done a good job in the time I've been there. You do your best, and that's all you can do."

Reed, 67, is a retired college administrator and lives in East Tampa. In the past two years, she said she supported a $1 million initiative to study infant mortality rates among blacks and allocations to DACCO, a Tampa-based drug treatment program.

Emmons, 49, is a registered Republican. She could not be reached for comment.

Reed's campaign collected about $20,000 from January to March; Dawson and Emmons have not reported any donations. The next filing date is July 25.