Republicans have another opportunity to reclaim Florida House District 60 after Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross made a late decision not to seek reelection, leaving the St. Petersburg-area seat without an incumbent and two political newcomers fighting to replace her.
Democrat Lindsay Polega-Quigley and Republican Melissa Rutland are now running for a seat that has become something of a Pinellas County battleground over the past two election cycles. Cross flipped the district for Democrats in 2022 when she defeated Republican Audrey Henson (the seat’s district lines were redrawn that year), then held it in 2024 against former St. Petersburg City Councilmember Ed Montanari.
Cross had been expected to seek another term this year before bowing out near the end of qualifying, changing the dynamics of a race Republicans had already targeted in the previous election.
Rutland has reported more than $100,000 in campaign finances, including $30,000 from the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee. Her campaign has also collected a string of smaller, but notable, $1,000 contributions from established Republican political figures, including former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, former Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters and former St. Petersburg City Councilmember Robert Blackmon.
The individual contributions are relatively small compared with the overall cost of a competitive House race, but the $30,000 contribution provides a clearer indication that the Republican Party’s state House campaign operation is investing in the contest.
Polega-Quigley, meanwhile, has reported $76,560 in campaign finances ($23,000 coming from the state Democratic committee) to date but has not received comparable financial backing from the state Democratic Party’s House campaign apparatus.
That creates a different race from 2024, when Republicans recruited Montanari to challenge an established Democratic incumbent. Montanari brought years of experience on St. Petersburg City Council and substantial name recognition to the contest, but Cross retained the seat.
This time, both parties are starting with greenhorn candidates. Polega-Quigley and Rutland must introduce themselves to voters and build campaign organizations on a compressed timeline following Cross’ departure. Polega-Quigley also enters the contest without the name recognition and legislative record that Cross accumulated during two successful campaigns and nearly four years in Tallahassee.
For Rutland, the challenge is turning an early fundraising advantage into votes in a district Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to reclaim in the last two election cycles.
The race also comes as Republicans already hold substantial majorities in both chambers of the Florida Legislature, meaning District 60 will not determine control of the House. It could, however, add another seat to that majority while reversing one of the Democrats’ Pinellas County gains from 2022.
For Polega-Quigley, the task is defending that gain without the incumbent who made it, though Polega-Quigley received Cross’s blessing, endorsing Polega-Quigley the same day she announced she would not seek reelection
But Cross’ late departure has turned what was expected to be another Republican challenge against a sitting Democrat into an open race, and the campaign finance reports show a disparity in institutional support, with Rutland getting $30,000 and Polega-Quigley’s $23,000 plus smaller, residential donations.