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Local businessman Chris Johnson, left, was the only candidate to qualify for Seat 6, which is being vacated by Commissioner John Carroll. Vice Mayor Michael Smith was also unopposed in his bid for reelection and will return to Seat 1.
Incumbent Commissioner Donna Holck will be facing a challenge from local educator Kai Rush.
Commissioner Curtis Holmes and Realtor Maria Kadau will face off for Seat 2.
Local businessman Chris Johnson, left, was the only candidate to qualify for Seat 6, which is being vacated by Commissioner John Carroll. Vice Mayor Michael Smith was also unopposed in his bid for reelection and will return to Seat 1.
LARGO — Largo will have at least two new city commissioners following the Nov. 8 general election.
Qualifying period ended July 29 and six candidates managed to get the necessary 200 petition cards to get on the ballot.
Local businessman Chris Johnson was the only candidate to qualify for Seat 6, which is being vacated by Commissioner John Carroll. Therefore, he has been automatically elected to a four-year term.
Vice Mayor Michael Smith was also unopposed in his bid for reelection and will return to Seat 1, which he has held since 2011.
Two candidates will square off for Seat 2. Incumbent Commissioner Samantha Fenger, however, will not be one of them, as she failed to qualify.
Vying for Fenger’s seat will be former Commissioner Curtis Holmes and Realtor Maria Kadau.
There will also be a contested race for Seat 5, which is currently held by Commissioner Donna Holck. Challenging her is local educator Kai Rush.
All positions are elected as nonpartisan and at-large.
Incumbent Commissioner Donna Holck will be facing a challenge from local educator Kai Rush.
The battle for Seat 5 will be between the incumbent, Holck, and Rush, a local educator.
According to his campaign website, Rush, a member of the city’s Recreation, Parks and Arts Advisory Board, has taught at Largo, Dunedin, and Palm Harbor University high schools. He was also a professor at several midwestern universities. He now owns his own 3-D printing and educational consulting business.
Rush’s platform includes keeping Largo clean and green. He states he will “fight to save every green space in Largo for the future,” fight for recreational spaces, and advocate for more funding in order to keep the city clean.
Holck is the owner of DGH Tax Consulting Inc. and was the owner of Unique Nails Inc. for more than 20 years.
She was elected to the commission in 2014 and regained the seat without opposition in 2018.
In past campaigns, she has supported protecting public safety departments and making infrastructure a priority.
During her first campaign in 2014 when running against longtime Commissioner Harriet Crozier, she also advocated for term limits and pledged to only serve two terms. She is now running for her third.
She admits to making the pledge but said community support led her to seek another term.
“After speaking with many constituents and various city leaders, I have been urged to continue serving our city,” Holck told Tampa Bay Newspapers. “While I was reluctant at first due to my prior pledge, I found this support encouraging and the basis for my decision to seek re-election.”
She added that it took much of her first term to “learn the ropes,” and felt more involved and productive in her second term. So she would like to continue that momentum.
“Upon completion of my third term, my hope is to have someone take the seat that shares the same passion for Largo that I have had and will work for the betterment of the Citizens of Largo,” she said.
Commissioner Curtis Holmes and Realtor Maria Kadau will face off for Seat 2.
The race for Seat 2 took an unexpected turn when Fenger, who had been on the board since 2014, failed to qualify.
Vying for Fenger’s seat will be Holmes and Kadau.
Holmes, a licensed insurance agent since 1975 and the owner of First Southeast Insurance Services Inc., was elected to the City Commission in 2009, and was reelected in 2012 and 2016. He lost Seat 3 in 2020 when he was defeated by current Commissioner Eric Gerard.
Kadau is a political newcomer, but is not new to public service, as she is a member of the city’s Planning Board and is president of the Rotary Club of Largo.
According to her campaign website, she was in the U.S. Army National Guard, training as a combat medic, emergency medical technician, and mental health specialist.
She states she will “fight for enhanced public safety, affordable housing, a vibrant downtown Largo, business-friendly policies, hands-on career education, and infrastructure improvements.”
Holmes has been an advocate for smaller government, a strong supporter of first responders, and known for being fiscally conservative.
During the public comment of recent commission meetings, he has been critical of the city forging ahead with its new mixed-use municipal complex that will now cost more than $80 million.
Carroll, a former Largo police chief who is leaving the seven-member board he’s been on since 2014 to spend more time with family, told Tampa Bay Newspapers he urged Johnson to join the race.
Johnson is president/CEO of Piper Fire Protection and Piper Electrical Services and has been active on several local boards.
He is chairman of the city’s Finance Advisory Board, and past chairman of the Central Pinellas Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of Trustees of Largo Medical Center.
Before the qualifying period even ended, he had already raised $9,250, including investing $5,000 of his own money into the campaign, according to financial disclosures.
“I am so honored and excited to serve the city as the Seat 6 commissioner,” Johnson wrote in an email to TBN. “I have big shoes to fill as John Carroll is a very well respected commissioner and he approached me in February about his plan to not run for another term. I have been serving on the Finance Advisory Board for the city for the past 8 years and have really enjoyed the process. I am always impressed with the amount of effort that is made by our teams to spend our tax revenue wisely.”
Smith will remain in Seat 1 for another four years after no one qualified to run against him.
“I deeply appreciate the people of Largo for the trust & support they have given me!” Smith posted on his Facebook page.
Smith, a Largo native, has worked in the Pinellas County library system for the past 17 years. He is currently a library assistant at the Pinellas Park Library.
He has served on many community and government boards and is currently
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