Last-minute qualifiers shake up Hillsborough school board race

A flurry of activity this week left two Hillsborough County School Board contests with smaller fields and one with three new candidates.

The newcomers include a pastor who has run for office before and a business owner who has served on the school board in the past.

Two longtime educators, meanwhile, took themselves out of the running in another district.

Ultimately, the seven-member board will oversee a district that faces fierce competition from the charter school sector; and is recovering from a year of disappointing school grades. As in other parts of the state and county, there is also pressure to satisfy parents and community leaders who disapprove of student reading materials.

District 1, covering northwest Hillsborough and parts of West Tampa, saw three candidates meet Friday’s qualifying deadline.

Nadia Combs, a former classroom teacher who also has operated a tutoring center, is seeking re-election to a second term. Combs supports measures the district has taken in recent years to save money, including the closing over the last year of six under-enrolled schools. She is outspoken on the need for Florida to increase funding for education.

Combs is being challenged by Layla Collins, a U.S. Army veteran; and Julie Magill, a real estate broker and general contractor who has spoken out against sexually explicit books in school libraries. Collins has raised more money than any candidate in any of the four races at $112,150, much of it from conservative political organizations.

District 3, which encompasses northern Hillsborough including Carrollwood and New Tampa, had five candidates at one point, but wound up with two.

One is incumbent Jessica Vaughn, a former classroom and substitute teacher. Vaughn generally espouses liberal views when it comes to diversity and marginalized communities. Both she and Combs, in District 1, were targeted for defeat by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Vaughn’s opponent is Myosha Powell, who describes herself in campaign materials as a proponent of parents’ rights. Vaughn leads her group in fundraising, with $48,000.

Angela Pimento Fullwood and Bonnie Lambert, who both spent decades as teachers and administrators, withdrew this week. Candidate Dalton Gregory Williford withdrew much earlier.

In central Hillsborough’s District 5, Henry “Shake” Washington is seeking a second four-year term. Washington spent more than 40 years with the school system before his retirement, in positions as high as area superintendent. He was unopposed for the first 10 months of his candidacy.

But in recent days, a succession of candidates have entered the field.

They are: Kenneth Gay, a retired teacher and administrator who now works for the nonprofit More Health organization; Elvis Piggott, a pastor and community activist who has run for the County Commission and the school board in the past; and Tamara Shamburger, an insurance agent who served on the School Board from 2016 to 2020. It was Washington who defeated Shamburger in her re-election bid in 2020.

The countywide race for District 7 has four contestants who qualified. They include incumbent Lynn “Teacher” Gray, a career educator seeking her third term. Gray also coaches running and has completed more than 100 marathons.

Gray’s group includes middle school teacher Karen Bendorf; architectural designer Jen Flebotte; and Johnny “Principal” Bush, another longtime district employee who led both Robinson and Plant high schools before he retired. Two others who had filed — Alene Atkins and Ashley Hartfield-Viewins — did not qualify.

The Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association has endorsed Combs in District 1; Vaughn in District 3; Washington in District 5; and candidates Gray and Bush in District 7.

Terms on the nonpartisan school board are four years long. They overlap with three other seats that will come up for election in 2026.