At Tuesday's campaign event for Hillsborough County Commission candidate Pat Kemp at Ella's, Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern thrilled many of her fellow Democrats when she announced that she had just heard Mark Sharpe had left the Republican Party.But that isn't the case. Not yet, anyhow.
Sharpe did tell the Tampa Tribune's Joe Henderson last week that if the GOP-led Legislature were to pass the controversial craft brew bill, he'd leave his political party. The bill hasn't passed yet, and might not pass at all given the way things are working in the state House (the Senate passed a modified measure of Senator Kelli Stargel's bill earlier this week).
"My message is very straightforward," Sharpe told CL on Wednesday. Referring to local breweries like Cigar City and Tampa Bay Brewing Company and car share services like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, he says, "If our party is going to be the party of holding them back and eliminating choice and opportunity, then I don’t want to have any part of it."
The current chair of the Hillsborough County Commission, Sharpe will be term-limited out this fall. He jokes that some people in the local GOP might want him out, but he's not planning on leaving. "I'm doing everything that I can do quietly and not so quietly — writing letters, making phone calls, and I’m going to be urging our party to be much more open to innovators and not just side with the old establishment industries."
The dispute over the craft beer legislation has pitted Republicans vs. Republicans in Tallahassee, with legislators like Tampa's Dana Young and Clearwater Senator Jack Latvala battling lawmakers like Lakeland's Stargel and Senate President Don Gaetz, who have spoken about supporting the three-tier system of manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
Sharpe was rebuked last week when he called on his BOCC colleagues to co-sign a letter to the local Hillsborough County legislation encouraging them to oppose more regulations for craft brewers. He says he respects his colleagues, but believes it's the job of county commissioners "to step into difficult frays" when state or federal policy could affect local businesses.
Sharpe's support for the transit tax in Hillsborough County in 2010 did make him a pariah among some Republicans, but he believes the GOP needs to adapt on a whole series of issues, like education and immigration. "We need to rethink how we communicate and how we think, so I'm frustrated."
But he reiterates that he hasn't left the party and hopes that the GOP-led legislature will reject Stargel's craft beer bill.