The McClure family — and conservative voters of east Hillsborough County — have something to be thankful for this holiday season.
Following a brief four-month race to election day, Lawrence McClure secured his seat in the state House Tuesday, winning more than half of the vote in the District 58 special election.
McClure, 30, a Republican, was the heavy favorite going into election day. District 58 has historically leaned to the right, despite having slightly more registered Democrats. According to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, District 58 has 91,603 registered voters, 34,072 of whom are Democrats and 31,614 of whom are Republicans.
District 58 covers much of east Hillsborough, including Plant City, Dover, Thonotossassa, Temple Terrace and Seffner. State Representatives make an annual salary of $29,697.
According to unofficial results from the Supervisor of Elections, Tuesday’s election had about 15% voter turnout with 13,964 ballots cast. McClure received nearly 55% of the vote with 7,592 votes. He beat out Democrat Jose Vazquez, who received more than 33%; Ahmad Hussam Saadaldin, who ran with no party affiliation and had almost 9% of the vote; and Libertarian Bryan Zemina who received about 3% of the vote.
“You have the culmination of many months and many volunteers and supporters,” McClure said. Then it comes down to a moment. It’s very humbling and rewarding to have the support of the folks of District 58 that elected me to represent them in the Florida House.”
Gov. Rick Scott called for the special election in August, following the resignation of Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City. Raulerson, a Plant City-based CPA, announced his August resignation in July, citing complications from a back issue.
McClure and Plant City’s Yvonne Fry faced off in a brief, but fierce primary campaign which featured a number of attack mailers sent against Fry. McClure denied involvement in the mailers and the following general election campaign was much quieter. McClure dominated fundraising during the campaign, raising more than $200,000, while the next closest opponent, Saadaldin, raised about $20,000.
McClure, who is a partner in an environmental consulting firm, said he’d be taking conservative values and a commitment to reducing government redundancies to Tallahassee when the 2018 session starts Jan. 9. But first, it’s home for the holidays.
“First comes Christmas, reflecting on this blessing and taking that moment to soak it in,” McClure said. “Then it’ll be meeting with constituents, talking to folks and getting ready to prepare bills to take to Tallahassee. Much like the rest of campaign, there’s not much time to get ready.”