Harrison eyes Homan's House seat in 2010

Shawn Harrison, who represented north Tampa on the Tampa City Council for eight years, says he's considering running two years from now for the Florida House seat held by Ed Homan.

Homan has filed to run this year for re-election. He would serve a fourth, and final, two-year term in the House, thanks to term limits.

"I'm taking a good look at District 60, and that probably would necessitate a move," Harrison said.

Harrison lives in Hunter's Green, near the boundary of Districts 60 and 61. The District 61 seat is held by Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel, a friend of Harrison's.

"I can hit a sand wedge from my house into Ed's District," Harrison said.

Harrison, a Republican who lost his race a year ago for a citywide City Council seat, said he plans to decide by year's end whether to take the plunge.

-- Bill Coats, Times Staff Writer

Comments

How old is he/profession/other background?

Dems have a good shot at picking that one up in 2010, if they can find a candidate.

[Ted]

Shawn who?

43, attorney. Its a 50-50 seat, so Dems will have to put someone up that can raise $$ and has name ID. Harrison almost won a City Council race where D's outnumber R's 2-1. He owns New Tampa and they actually vote in regular year elections.

[Chris W]

8:31, that district where D's outnumber R's 2:1 is called "the City of Tampa". Harrison had just about every advantage you can think of - Murderer's Row of Tampa power brokers on his host committee, $214,000 in cash versus Mary Mulhern's (roughly) $48,000, and name and face recognition from TV and local media, and he still lost.

All that money and face time, and they couldn't drag him over the finish line against a relative unknown he outspent by more than 4:1.

If the Democrats run a good moderate candidate (fiscal conservative, social moderate) the seat can be ours.

Exactly. The latte libs that handed Mulhern her victory in Hyde Park can't vote this time. Look at the map. District 60 is New Tampa, Temple Terrace and Lutz. R territory and working class Dems. She should have won by 10 points with her party advantage.

[Chris W]

10:37 - We have a deeper bench than you think, and Shawn isn't as good a candidate as you want to believe. And I can flip it around on you - with all of the money and celebrity backing Harrison got, he should have put Mulhern away.

The biggest reason we have a good shot at House 60 is that conservative Republican governance all of a sudden isn't looking so good. Jeb! is a thankfully fading memory and his legacy is getting dismantled as fast as we can get rid of his appointees (which is why the Taxation and Budget Commission is overstepping its bounds to try and save at least a bit of his legacy).

[Alex]

If Harrison can "hit a wedge into Ed's district," how is he eligible to run?

Chris W, read the article. 21% turnout in Mulhern's base south tampa vs. 9% in Harrison's base in north tampa. Add the huge advantage in D-R registration in Tampa, and he had a bigger hurdle than you think. Money and endorsements don't matter, just look at John McCain. Those are not issues in D-60. He walks in a Rep primary, and name one D up there that can win a house seat.

[Chris W]

1:44, a 9% turnout of Harrison's base doesn't speak very highly of him as a candidate.

Mary Mulhern spanked Shawn Harrison and any D with a good background will have no problem defeating him. He's a lightweight.

Right 2:32. Mulhern didn't spank anyone. The liberal south tampa crowd, including Mayor Pam, Trib Editorial Bd, Times Editorial Bd, Linda saul-Sena and La Gaceta all ganged up to spank Shawn. Why? He's a conservative, from New Tampa, and voted against the stormwater fee and for cutting taxes, which killed him south of kennedy but showed courage for his constituents. That won't be a problem in D-60. Look at the map. It's Republican and Reagan Democrats. With his fundraising ability and friendlier voter registration numbers, we'll keep this one in the R column. You can keep the City council, we'll take the State House.