Young Gun

(St. Petersburg Times)

Adam Smith, November 30, 2005

YOUNG GUN: With all the potentially competitive legislative races gearing up in Pinellas, state House Democrats have signed political consultant Kevin King of St. Petersburg to serve as local field director, helping candidates with grass roots organizing and fundraising.

A St. Petersburg native and graduate of Gibbs High and University of South Florida, King in 2002 managed his first campaign at age 23: Chris Eaton vs. state Rep. Frank Farkas.

Most recently he worked on Darden Rice's St. Petersburg City Council campaign.

Never before has the state party hired a field director so early, said state House Victory committee's political director Steve Schale, underscoring the importance of Pinellas this election cycle.

But Democrats had best avoid getting cocky about their new hire: the state GOP has had paid staff in Tampa Bay since before the 2004 election and currently has three people working in the area: Mike Manley handling state House races, Mike Norris focused on state Senate campaigns and Jim Brown working on party development.

See more from today's published Pinellas Political Junkie column here.