Neil ManimalaNeil Manimala

Hillsborough voters have the luxury of choice in this countywide face-off. The best races have at least two strong candidates, both of whom can articulate a vision and have the energy to do the often tiresome work of local government. Neil Manimala and Stacy Hahn are two of those people.

Manimala gets the edge for his fresh ideas and robust work ethic. Rarely does a first-time political candidate have such a keen awareness of the challenges facing a large, diverse county like Hillsborough.

Manimala, a 36-year-old Democrat, grew up in Valrico, lives in Tampa and graduated from the University of South Florida. He had thought of running for office before but was inspired when his daughter was born late last year.

"I cannot imagine her inheriting a world governed by cruelty and corruption, or even worse, governed by indifference," he said.

Manimala has sensible ideas about flooding, resiliency and containing sprawl. He speaks intelligently about transportation and healthcare. The latter is hardly surprising given that he's a surgeon, urologist and the president of the Hillsborough County Medical Association. He also understands how some residents are barely making ends meet. He would like to restore the county's housing fund and create more opportunities to build affordable and workforce housing.

He's passionate about restoring faith in government.

"Whenever I see a patient in the office or the operating room, I don't look up their voter registration and decide what kind of care to give them," he said. "That's the kind of approach we need in our politics, too."

Manimala already tapered his medical practice to focus on his campaign. If he wins, he said he would stop seeing patients and focus on the commission.

Republican Stacy Hahn beat incumbent commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda in the August primary. Hahn spent eight years on the Hillsborough County School Board, where she developed her cordial but no-nonsense style of governing. Hahn has a track record of building consensus and getting things done. She also values government transparency.

Manimala or Hahn will be a positive upgrade over Cepeda. In this close call, Manimala gets the edge.