District 15 House Election Results: Carlson, Spano Win

LAKELAND, FL – When U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R- Lakeland, announced he wouldn’t run for re-election after eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, there was a mad dash to fill his seat.

When the smoke cleared, five Republican candidates and three Democratic candidates qualified for Florida’s 15th Congressional District.

District 15 includes eastern Hillsborough County, northwest Polk County and southern Lake County.

Vying for the majority vote in the Republican Primary were Florida Rep. Ross Spano, R-Riverview, former state Rep. Neil Combee, R-Lakeland, businessmen Ed Shoemaker and Danny Kushmer and homebuilder Sean Harper.

Contenders in the Democratic primary race were Kristen Carlson, Andrew Learned and Raymond Pena Jr.

With all 194 precincts reporting, here are the unofficial results:

In the Republican primary:

Spano: 43.9%

Combee: 34%

Harper: 9.9%

Kushmer: 6.7%

Shoemaker: 5.5%

In the Democratic primary:

Carlson: 53.4%

Learned: 31.5%

Pena: 15%

RELATED STORY: Florida Primary Election Results: DeSantis, Gillum Win

Polk County has had a stronghold on the seat since 1983 when Andy Ireland, R-Winter Haven, was elected, but that may change.

The 2016 redistricting might loosen Polk County’s hold over District 15 now that half of the voters live in Hillsborough, 35 percent in Polk and 15 percent in Lake County.

Combee and Spano quickly emerged as frontrunners in the race for the seat that has historically been held by a Republican.

A practicing attorney, Spano, 52, was elected to the District 59 state House seat in 2012 where he’s earned praise for his efforts to strengthen 2nd Amendment rights in Florida, curb human trafficking and strengthen laws against pornography and prostitution.

Spano will face Carlson in the Nov. 6 general election.

Carlson has worked as a prosecutor in Pasco County, general counsel for the Florida Department of Citrus and chief counsel for the Florida Department of Transportation in Bartow.

Image via Shutterstock

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