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Referendum 1: Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools

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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

Referendum 1: Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools

Hillsborough County Referendums

Referendum 1: Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools

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Listen: this contest in 1:13

Research as of Oct. 23, 2026

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

Read the transcript

Hillsborough voters will decide whether the school superintendent should be elected rather than appointed. A Yes vote makes the superintendent a partisan elected office with a four-year term, starting with the 2028 election. A No vote keeps the School Board appointing the superintendent. It needs a simple majority, though one June news report said 60 percent. The measure comes from a local bill by Republican state Representative Michael Owen of Apollo Beach. He says parents should choose who leads their kids' education. The School Board unanimously passed a resolution urging a No vote. Vice chair Nadia Combs says politics should stay out of schools. The county Republican and Democratic parties both say No, as do the county PTA council and the West Central Florida Labor Council. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's editors say No. The Tampa Bay Times editorial board also recommends No, saying a district this size should prize professionalism over politics. It notes the case for Yes: voters get a direct say. No public polling was found, and no campaign money was verified. Research as of October 23, 2026. Sources and the full picture are on this page.

Official sample ballot wording

Hillsborough County Referendum No. 1

Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools

Chapter 2026-196, Laws of Florida

Shall Chapter 2026-196, Laws of Florida, which provides that the Superintendent of Schools for Hillsborough County Public Schools shall no longer be appointed by the School Board, but shall be elected in a partisan election for a term of 4 years, beginning with the 2028 general election, become effective?

Yes · No

Simple majority needed to passSources differ; see conflicts

Mark your ballot: Referendum 1: Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools
EditorialWhy Creative Loafing picks No

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 referendums (majority) · Referendum 1 (Elected school superintendent)

No public polling

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

Lead recommendationEditorialCreative Loafing Tampa Bay, Oct. 23, 2026

Creative Loafing’s pick

No

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 (2)

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

The research didn't verify committee money for or against this referendum.

What the research holds

Counts from every page and file
Polls
0
Money-map edges
0
Network edges
3
Progressive support
4
Progressive oppose
0
Right-leaning support
2
Right-leaning oppose
0
Sources
8
People & groups
6

Tampa Bay Times

EditorialMoney map

No

The Times' case
A district of about 200,000 students and a $4B budget should “prize professionalism over politics.” Hillsborough once switched to an appointed superintendent after an elected one was indicted.
The other side
The Times’ account of the case for Yes: voters get a direct say, and the superintendent is freed from the board.

EditorialAs recorded in each guide

Progressive guide
Both recommend No (Oct 7)
Right-leaning guide
Both recommend No (Oct 7)

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

Summary

YES makes the superintendent an elected, partisan office starting with the 2028 election, instead of being appointed by the School Board. Filed by Rep. Michael Owen (R); opposed by House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa).

Yes0 support · 0 oppose

No listings found in this guide.

Notes

  • No progressive group supports it; the main advocate is sponsor Rep. Owen.
No4 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Labor
Democratic Party & caucuses
Nonpartisan civic (context)

Notes

  • The Hillsborough School Board (a government body) unanimously passed a resolution against it.

Conservative side, as noted in this guide

The Hillsborough GOP also recommends NO, even though a Republican legislator sponsored the bill.

Searched, nothing found

League of Women Voters of Hillsborough County (2026), Sierra Club, Equality Florida, Florida Rising, Florida Freedom to Read Project, Indivisible, Our Revolution, FEA statewide.

Right-leaning lens

LensOpen the guide

Summary

YES makes the superintendent an elected, partisan office from 2028. HB 4027 by Rep. Michael Owen (R) passed the House 86–26 and Senate 36–0.

Yes1 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials
No1 support · 0 oppose

SupportEndorsement

Republican Party & officials

Notes

  • Intra-right split: the county GOP opposes its own delegation's bill. Republican Stacy Hahn (as a School Board member) and Republican candidate Ken Gay also oppose it. The nonpartisan School Board passed a unanimous NO resolution; member Nadia Combs said "Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians alike" oppose it.

Progressive side, as noted in this guide

Hillsborough Democrats, the Labor Council/HCTA, PTA Council and Education Foundation all say NO.

Searched, nothing found

Moms for Liberty Hillsborough, Florida Citizens Alliance, DeSantis.

Terms

Definition

Sources

8 in the registry, official records first · All sources

Where sources disagree

All conflicts

  • County referendum passage threshold

    • simple majority
    • 60%

    Resolved: simple majority, with visible caveat

    Bill text controls; one June WUSF report said 60%.

  • HB 4027 (Referendum 1) legislative vote

    • House subcommittee 17–1; Senate 36–0 (no House floor tally given)
    • House 86–26, Senate 36–0

    Resolved: show 'House 86–26 (floor), subcommittee 17–1, Senate 36–0' with verify chip

    Not contradictory, but the 86–26 floor figure appears only on the right-leaning page and is one vote off HB 4029's 87–26 — possible transposition. Verify on flsenate.gov / myfloridahouse.gov.

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

Where to vote