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Harrison: Interested in D11 race, but with some big if’s

Posted Aug 16, 2011 by William March

Updated Aug 16, 2011 at 05:38 PM

There is a chance Mark Sharpe, who announced Monday he’ll run for Congress against Kathy Castor next year, could have a Republican primary opponent.

State Rep. Shawn Harrison of north Tampa says he’s interested in running in Tampa’s District 11, but not unless the district lines are changed so that his home is in the district, and the district becomes more competitive for a Republican.

That’s a tricky proposition, because no one can be sure when the district lines will be final, and Harrison and other candidates must decide by the end of the qualifying period, June 4-8, whether to run for Congress or re-election to his state House seat.

Harrison currently lives in Rep. Gus Bilirakis’s District 9, and says he doesn’t want to move or run in a district where he doesn’t live; nor does he want to run in a district in which odds are strongly against a Republican, as they are in the current configuration of District 11.

Sharpe, who lives in South Tampa, has said he wants to run in the district that includes the city, regardless of its shape, and is willing to run even in a district where where Republicans are at a disadvantage.

Sharpe also has another advantage. He doesn’t have to resign from his county commission seat to run, and his current term goes through 2014—so he can remain in his current position if he loses the congressional race.

Harrison will have to choose between his state House seat and running for Congress, and said he doesn’t want to leave the state House seat without a reasonable chance of a win in a congressional race.

In an interview, Harrison said he thinks preliminary districting maps will come out by the time the state Legislature begins its 2012 session in January—“I hope we’ll be able to make an educated guess,” he said, but he acknowledged he’ll have to get over some high hurdles to make the decision to run for Congress.