There were some close races in Hillsborough County on Tuesday night, but the House District 61 race wasn't one of them. That's where Democrat Ed Narain defeated a write-in candidate easily, and will represent East Tampa, Seminole Heights, West Tampa and Ybor City.
Narian effectively won the seat back in late August, when he ousted Sean Shaw in a bitterly fought Democratic primary election. The 37-year-old is an area manager for AT&T and the victory tonight is his first in an elected position since he became student body president at USF back in the late 1990s.
"The issues that are affecting District 61 are not issues that are limited just to 61, they're issues that are affecting minority communities all across the state of Florida," he told CL Tuesday afternoon while attending an event with Charlie Crist in East Tampa. "Access to health care, access to jobs, economic opportunity. I mean, those are not Republican or Democratic issues, those are just Florida issues."
Speaking before the gubernatorial election result was known, Narain said it would be a very good thing for Florida if a Democrat won the election. "That's the most important thing, to have some balance in the executive office and in the Legislature — I mean, that's going to make a world of difference I think for Florida families."
Even with token opposition, Narian said he took nothing for granted on Tuesday. "Believe it or not, I have been up since 5:00 a.m., putting up signs and doing everything that we need to do, making calls on behalf of our campaign and other Democrats."