Caragiulo won’t seek re-election to County Commission

County Commissioner Paul Caragiulo will not seek re-election in November, he told the Observer.

He also released an announcement on his Facebook page.

“It's the best choice I could make for my family over the next five years,” Caragiulo said. 

On his Facebook page, Caragiulo endorsed Christian Ziegler, a 34-year-old state committeeman for the Republican Party of Florida.

Ziegler filed to run for the District 2 seat Jan. 22, and posted on his own Facebook page that he’s excited to announce his candidacy.

“Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, who is currently serving in that role, has done an incredible job and while he may not he so tall, he has some big shoes to fill,” a post on Ziegler’s page said.

Ziegler previously served as executive director of the Republican Party of Florida and as a legislative assistant and digital director for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key. His political experience includes time on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Rick Santorum, according to his website.

According to Caragiulo, he approached Ziegler about the position. If elected, Ziegler would follow the more moderate Caragiulo, but Caragiulo said he thinks Ziegler would fit well with the other commissioners. 

“He’s a real wonk, and he likes the details of public policy. He likes to get in there, and he has a great work ethic,” Caragiulo said. “Probably above all else, he’s just honest.”

Ziegler said he's fiscally conservative and believes in limited government, but doesn’t believe his partisanship will matter in this race. 

“There’s not too much that goes down ideological lines at the local government level,” Ziegler said.

For now he isn’t ready to say what he would prioritize if elected. Instead, he plans to focus on gathering input from residents. 

“It’s like top of the first inning right now,”  he said. “Now that I’m in the race, I have to go around and hear from various stakeholders in the community.”

Caragiulo has served as a county commissioner since 2014, and before that served as a city commissioner from 2011 to 2014.

Moving forward, Caragiulo said he may come back to local government in the future, if an opportunity that makes sense comes along. But he probably won't get involved at the state level. 

“To be honest, maybe a couple of years ago, but certainly not now,” he said. “I’ll stick to my little pond here, it’s just fine with me.”

For the remainder of his term, Caragiulo said he'd focus on some of the commission's priorities: workforce housing, stormwater management and improving the county's disaster response.

Ziegler is the second candidate to file to enter the 2018 County Commission election ahead of the August primary. Commissioner Al Maio filed in December for re-election in District 4.