TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Bay Rays principal owner, Stu Sternberg, donated $1,000 to the 2018 re-election campaign of Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, the county's biggest cheerleader for a new Rays stadium in Tampa.
The maximum-allowable donation was disclosed in Hagan's June fundraising report, filed with the supervisor of elections office this week. Hagan raised more than $100,000 in the month, much from the real estate industry, and has no established opponent yet standing in his way of a fifth consecutive four-year term on the county commission.
Sternberg and other Rays executives have also donated to the 2017 re-election campaign of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. Both Kriseman and Hagan have suggested public dollars should be used in financing a new home for the MLB club.
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While they may see eye-to-eye on the issue of a new stadium Sternberg and Hagan were at-odds on another issue lately: the proposed removal of a Confederate statue from the Hillsborough County courthouse. The Rays issued a statement supporting the removal, while Hagan was one of four votes that kept the statue in-place.
Hagan also reported $6,000 in June contributions from various Jeff Vinik-controlled companies, including the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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