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Lisa Wheeler-Bowman: Corey Givens ‘passion’ makes him best choice for St. Pete City Council

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Lisa Wheeler-Bowman is endorsing Corey Givens, Jr. in his bid for St. Petersburg District 6.

“Corey Givens is the best choice for voters,” Wheeler-Brown, who represents District 7, said in a statement Tuesday. “He embodies the knowledge, leadership, and experience required to serve such a uniquely diverse district. I’ve worked closely with Corey over the years and I can truly say that his passion and love for community is genuine.”

“I personally would like to thank Lisa for standing with me,” Givens responds. “District 6 and 7 share many of the same issues: a lack of quality affordable housing & funding for early childhood education, a shortage of sustainable livable wage paying jobs, and a need for wastewater infrastructure upgrades.”

There are eight candidates running for the District 6 seat held by term-limited Karl Nurse since 2008. They are Akile Cainion, Gina Driscoll, James Scott, Jim Jackson, Sharon Russ, Maria Scruggs and Justin Bean.

According to political strategist Barry Edwards, a private poll conducted recently in the race showed that among white voters, Driscoll leads in the race, while Scruggs leads among African-Americans. He made that announcement on WMNF’s MidPoint program last Thursday, but said that he would not release the results unless given permission by the citizen who paid for it, which apparently he never did.

The primary election for District 6 is on August 29. In the likely event that no candidate in the crowded field gets a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will battle it out until November.

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served as five years as the political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. He also was the assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley. He's a San Francisco native who has now lived in Tampa for 15 years and can be reached at [email protected]

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