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Board of County Commissioners — District 1

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Research as of Oct. 24, 2026. Early voting runs through Nov. 1; Election Day is Nov. 3. Check your voter info at votehillsborough.gov

Board of County Commissioners — District 1

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Board of County Commissioners — District 1

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Listen: this contest in 1:34

Research as of Oct. 23, 2026

Read by a synthetic voice from this page’s research. A summary, not a recommendation.

Read the transcript

In County Commission District 1, a Democratic incumbent has backing from several prominent Republicans. On the ballot are Republican Jackie Toledo and Democrat Harry Cohen. Cohen has been a commissioner since 2020 and served two terms on the Tampa City Council. He voted for the county's Rays stadium package and opposed ending the county's health care program for low-income residents. Toledo is a civil engineer and a former state representative. She is campaigning on traffic, flooding and infrastructure, and argues Cohen voted for six budgets as county revenue grew from about 1 billion to 1.6 billion dollars. Toledo is endorsed by the Hillsborough County Republican Party, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, and U.S. Representatives Gus Bilirakis and Greg Steube. Cohen is backed by Republican Sheriff Chad Chronister, Republican State Attorney Suzy Lopez and former Tax Collector Doug Belden, plus police and firefighter unions, the builders association, Equality Florida and the regional labor council. No poll was found. In county reports, Cohen had raised about 186 thousand dollars through October 2, and Toledo about 140 thousand through October 16. A committee tied to Cohen has raised about 414 thousand more. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's editors back Cohen. Both Tampa Bay Times editors also recommend him. Research as of October 23, 2026. Sources and the full picture are on this page.

Official sample ballot wording

Board of County Commissioners, District 1 · Vote for one

  • Jackie ToledoRepublican
  • Harry CohenDemocratic
Mark your ballot: Board of County Commissioners — District 1
EditorialWhy Creative Loafing picks Harry Cohen

Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.

Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for

Where it stands

FactCounty · County Commission, District 1

No poll. Cohen leads in money

No polls found in the research. Research as of Oct. 24, 2026.

Lead recommendationEditorialCreative Loafing Tampa Bay, Oct. 23, 2026

Creative Loafing’s pick

Harry Cohen

Why

Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up. Its reporting on the race is below.

Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough County Commission, School Board and referendums · every pick: the full guide

Creative Loafing’s reporting on this race (1)

Why this leads: The site owner's choice (Oct. 24): the recommendation that best matches the owner's values, shown first on every contest. Still an editorial: one outlet's opinion, not this site's.

The money gap

Fact

1.3×Harry Cohen has raised 1.3 times as much as Jackie Toledo.

Compares Harry Cohen's figure through Oct 2, 2026 with Jackie Toledo's through Oct 16, 2026.

Raised by each campaign (county reports)

  • Harry CohenDemocrat · incumbent

    $186Kas of Oct 2, 2026

    Hillsborough Together, a committee tied to him, has raised $414K since 2025.

  • Jackie ToledoRepublican

    $140Kas of Oct 16, 2026

    Includes $8,000 she lent herself.

Figures from the money map research, compared like for like. Outside groups' spending isn't counted unless noted. The latest figures run to different dates, shown beside each amount.

What the research holds

Counts from every page and file
Polls
0
Money-map edges
0
Network edges
4
Progressive support
4
Progressive oppose
1
Right-leaning support
8
Right-leaning oppose
0
Sources
11
People & groups
15

Tampa Bay Times

EditorialMoney map

Harry Cohen (both editors)

The Times' case
Both Gallaty and Brink picked Cohen.
The other side
The available excerpt did not include detailed reasoning about Toledo.

EditorialAs recorded in each guide

Progressive guide
Both Gallaty and Brink recommend Cohen (Oct 3)
Right-leaning guide
Both Gallaty and Brink recommend Cohen (Oct 3)

Other editorial pages

Opinion columns, not endorsements

No other editorial page in the research has made a pick here.

Endorsements, both lenses

Neither lens is this site's voice

Progressive lens

LensOpen the guide

Primary notes

Cohen was unopposed in the primary.

Harry CohenDEMIncumbent4 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Labor

Notes

  • Sierra Club and Florida Rising endorsed the Democrats in Districts 5 and 7 but made no pick in District 1.
Jackie ToledoREP0 support · 1 oppose

OpposeEndorsement

Labor

Notes

  • News, not a progressive group: Florida Politics reported (Oct 9) that her endorser United Christians of Florida also backs a candidate accused of child molestation; she condemned abuse but kept the endorsement (source).

Conservative side, as noted in this guide

Toledo: Hillsborough GOP, CFO Blaise Ingoglia, U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Greg Steube, United Christians of Florida. Cohen also has the Hillsborough firefighters, Sheriff Chronister, Mayor Jane Castor, Suncoast PBA and Tampa Bay Builders Association.

Searched, nothing found

Sierra Club, Florida Rising, Florida Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, Ruth's List, NOW, Run for Something, Our Revolution, Indivisible, WFP, Dream Defenders, FLIC, Faith in Florida, SEIU, AFSCME, UNITE HERE, Moms Demand, Sunrise, Hillsborough Environmental Coalition, 1000 Friends of Florida, Young Dems, Stonewall Dems.

Right-leaning lens

LensOpen the guide

Cohen leads in total raised (~$186K to ~$128K) plus $400K+ in his committee, Hillsborough Together

Primary notes

The clearest intra-right split on the ballot: Republican sheriff, state attorney and former tax collector back the Democratic incumbent over the GOP nominee.

Jackie ToledoREP3 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials
Anti-abortion & religious conservative
Harry CohenDEMIncumbent5 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials
Law enforcement & public safety (often bipartisan)

Progressive side, as noted in this guide

Cohen: Equality Florida, West Central Florida Labor Council.

Searched, nothing found

Florida Chamber, Tampa Bay Partnership, NRA, Moms for Liberty. Toledo faces a $17K debt lawsuit involving her engineering firm — not group opposition.

Terms

Definition

Sources

11 in the registry, official records first · All sources
Show 1 more source

Where sources disagree

All conflicts

No conflicts recorded for this contest.

Matched from the research's conflict list by contest, candidate, judge or measure name.

Where to vote