Pasco voters go to the polls Tuesday to choose city leadership

Barbara Behrendt, Tampa Bay Times
Updated ·3 min read

Voters in all six of Pasco County’s municipalities will choose new leaders in Tuesday’s election with the the highest profile race in Dade City.

There are two city commission seats up for grabs in Dade City this year. The Group 3 seat will pit incumbent Jim Shive against challenger Lucinda Uribe but it is the Group 4 race that has been the hot topic on social media in the community.

Steven Van Gorden and Kristin Church are vying for the seat. Van Gorden has raised three times as much as his opponent seeking the job with a campaign total of $16,275 compared to Church’s total of $5,335. Van Gorden has had a high profile having been the principal at Zephyrhills High School and mayor of Zephyrhills. He left those jobs in 2012 after he faced accusations of sexual harassment.

Van Gorden, who also was held leadership positions in the local Chamber of Commerce and the local Rotary Club and previously served on the Dade City Commission, was investigated and ultimately had his teaching credentials revoked. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Hernando County School Board in 2016.

When Van Gorden was the only applicant to fill an open seat on the Dade City Commission earlier this year, he was rejected by the commissioners over his past. At that meeting, Van Gorden had a group of friends and fellow church goers who supported him. He made a strong pitch that he was no longer the same man he had been, had been “born again” and was well qualified for the job.

Church is a political newcomer who lists her professional experience as an education compliance analyst, prosecuting attorney, and public school teacher.

Zephyrhills has two city council seats available in the Tuesday election, each pitting an incumbent against an opponent. In Seat 3 Jodi Wilkeson is challenged by Sam Turgeon and in Seat 5 Charles Proctor is challenged by Manny Funes.

In New Port Richey there are five candidates seeking the two available seats on the city council. Incumbent Matt Murphy is seeking another term and the other four candidates are Bertell Butler IV, Lewis Curtwright, Dell deChant and Thomas O’Neill.

Three council seats will be filled for the Port Richey City Council in Tuesday’s election. There are five candidates with three running for the two available three-year terms and two running for the single the one-year term. Incumbent Thomas Kinsella is running for another term and David Mueller and Cherokee Sampson were selected by the council as interim members earlier this year.

Kinsella, Mueller and Robert Hubbard are seeking the two available three year terms and Sampson and Sheri Sharer are each seeking the one-year term.

In the city of San Antonio, there are three city commission seats up for election. The five candidates are incumbents John Vogel II and Caitlin Bolender and challengers Blaze Drinkwine, David Rios and Jorge Varino II.

Only one seat on the Saint Leo Town Commission was challenged and will appear on the ballot. In Seat 5, voters will choose between William Hamilton, the incumbent, and challenger Tory England.

All Pasco municipal elections are non partisan. For more information on the elections visit the Pasco Supervisor of Elections. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.