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SHANNON TANMaria Scruggs-Weston, facing three-term incumbent Bob Stewart in District 3, says voters are ready for a change.
Maria Scruggs-Weston's first foray into local politics was three years ago, when she ran for mayor of St. Petersburg.
She ran sixth in the primary, with less than 4 percent of the vote.
Undeterred, Scruggs-Weston is now challenging Pinellas County Commissioner Bob Stewart, a Republican seeking a fourth term representing District 3. The at-large district covers most of St. Petersburg, but the seat is elected countywide.
Stewart, 66, has served 10 years on the County Commission and 10 on the St. Petersburg City Council. He says he's running again to see several projects, such as bringing a Job Corps center to the county, close to completion.
"The issues we're dealing with are tough," said Stewart. "That's why I think you need to have experience."
Scruggs-Weston, 47, is confident voters want a change. She even resigned from her job as community partnership coordinator for St. Anthony's Healthcare to campaign full time.
"When someone has been in office for 20 years, it's going to be business as usual," said Scruggs-Weston, who has worked in law enforcement, juvenile justice and community planning.
Scruggs-Weston first voiced her desire to run for public office more than 25 years ago, said fellow Florida State University graduate Jerry Demings, Orange County public safety director.
"She's not a quitter," Demings said. "It didn't dissuade her that she hadn't held public office before; it didn't dissuade her from running because she didn't have a lot of money."
Scruggs-Weston is poised, articulate and "obviously cares about the community," said Mary Repper, a retired political consultant. But "when you're running against an incumbent as well known and popular as Bob Stewart," she said, the challenges are "almost insurmountable."
The Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association, Pinellas Realtor Organization and Tampa Bay Builders Association endorsed Stewart. Scruggs-Weston has received an endorsement from the Pinellas County Council of Firefighters.
As of Oct. 15, Stewart had raised almost $47,000 in contributions in comparison with Scruggs-Weston's nearly $14,000.
Stewart said he wants to continue trying to correct the region's water problems, including the troubled desalination plant, and help resolve transportation problems by continuing his role on the Metropolitan Planning Organization board.
Bringing a Job Corps center that would provide training to disadvantaged youth, he said, is a "legacy that's worth four more years." Stewart's efforts were thwarted earlier this year when one site was purchased by a private developer.
"He was a one-man army determined to help those less fortunate," said St. Petersburg College president Carl Kuttler. "He almost single-handedly helped to do that."
Stewart handwrites thank-you notes to campaign contributors. His son helped him put up 20-some campaign signs around the county. He plans on buying radio and newspaper advertisements.
Scruggs-Weston set up her campaign headquarters in a storefront on 16th Street S in St. Petersburg and has been going door to door on Saturdays. She claims more name recognition because of her community involvement in initiatives such as Source of Health, a nonprofit organization she co-founded.
She wants Pinellas to track the quality of its residents' lives, including education and transportation. She said other areas, including Duval County, have a system for doing so.
She says the county needs to work with small businesses, but she doesn't offer a specific plan on how to do that. "You don't understand something completely unless you're (immersed) in it," she says.
At times, her employment history has been spotty.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement fired the special agent in 1986 for charging personal calls to her department-issued credit card, claiming she was working while at a hairstyling shop, and negligence in an investigation that contributed to a case's not being prosecuted. Scruggs-Weston declined to comment, noting only that "African-Americans weren't the norm" in law enforcement at the time.
The St. Petersburg Housing Authority dismissed her in 2000 for failing to perform her job. Scruggs-Weston sued in federal court, alleging racial and gender discrimination. The lawsuit was later settled.
Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.