Voting is a cherished, American right. In order to have an orderly and well-organized election, you need someone in charge who can oversee hundreds of permanent and temporary workers, work with dozens of candidates, prepare voluminous election material and maintain complex voting equipment. Hillsborough County is lucky to have a highly qualified Supervisor of Elections, Craig Latimer.
The Supervisor of Elections is an elected position. Latimer was born and raised in Hillsborough County. He is dedicated to serving this county.
Prior to becoming Supervisor of Elections, Latimer served as Chief of Staff for the Supervisor of Elections from 2009 to 2013. Prior to that, Latimer spent 35 years serving the community as a member of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He retired as a Major from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in 2008.
Latimer was elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. Latimer’s vision for Hillsborough County is to make Hillsborough County the best place in America to vote. Latimer said, “We work toward that vision each and every day.”
Latimer worked to turn the office around by restoring integrity, efficiency and confidence in the elections process. He did this through leadership and accountability. He made sure that results were timely and accurate and that the office was impartial and bipartisan. He instilled a renewed commitment to ethics and professionalism.
In 2015 Hillsborough County became the first Supervisor of Elections office in Florida to earn the Governor’s Sterling Award. This is given based on a rigorous series of performance criteria to assess organizations that wish to serve as statewide role models. “I pursued the Governor’s Sterling Award to show voters that I take their trust seriously and demonstrate that our elections meet the absolute highest standard of excellence,” said Latimer.
There are 829,123 registered voters in Hillsborough County. Under Latimer’s supervision, the Supervisor of Elections office staffs and runs 271 polling sites for each primary and general election. Latimer oversees 45 full-time employees. He hires hundreds of temporary employees during the election cycle, and more than 2,500 workers on Election Day for each countywide election.
For information, visit www.votehillsborough.org.
