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Family feud, round 2, for commission seat

A county race pits nephew against aunt, a reprise of their 2003 City Council runs.

By RODNEY THRASH
Published February 8, 2005

TAMPA - Whoever said blood is thicker than water forgot to pass the memo to the White family.

At 3:19 p.m. Jan. 31, Tampa City Council member Kevin White filed to run for the Hillsborough County Commission seat that Thomas Scott will vacate next year because of term limits.

One hour and 23 minutes later, his aunt Bernadine White-King did the same thing, filing to represent the District 3 County Commission seat that covers central and east Tampa.

It was not intentional, White said.

"How we ended up filing on the same day, I have no idea," he said. "Maybe she had a little birdie."

White-King did not return two telephone messages a St. Petersburg Times reporter left at her Tampa home.

Commissioner Scott said White-King visited his church, 34th Street Church of God, more than one year ago and expressed interest in the position. White did not come to him until "a couple of weeks ago," he said.

Scott said he does not plan to endorse either candidate because he may run for Jim Davis' U.S. House seat, Arthenia Joyner's state House seat or Kathy Castor's County Commission seat.

"I'm choosing to stay out of that particular race because I may be on the ballot myself," Scott said.

White said he first thought about running for Scott's seat in August 2004.

"This is an optimal time to go for it," White said. "It's an open seat. If I stayed in my council seat another term, then I'm running against a one-term incumbent. It's easier not to run against an incumbent."

White said he has spoken to his aunt only twice in the past two years.

Dueling Whites have a history in Tampa.

It was just two years ago that the City Council District 5 race pitted aunt against nephew. White's father, Gerald White, supported the aunt. Gerald White never married White's mother, Sheryl O'Neal. He married another woman, and they had children of their own.

"That (endorsement) cut me more deeply than anyone will ever know," White told the Times in 2003. He went on to defeat White-King, 4,117 to 3,533.

So when the two again turned up as competitors, elections officials weren't surprised.

For his part, White said he wishes his opponent were someone else.

"I think it's kind of sad," he said. "I don't relish running against a relative, any more than I did the last go round. I would prefer to see her in another race."

That said, "all I can do is run the very best and the cleanest race that I know and hopefully the voters will find Kevin White worthy to represent them on the county level."

--Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or 813 269-5313.

[Last modified February 8, 2005, 00:20:05]