{"id":304054,"date":"2026-06-11T16:39:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304054\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T16:39:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:39:45","slug":"adam-ross-backs-melissa-rutland-a-day-after-she-entered-hd-60-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/304054\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Ross backs Melissa Rutland a day after she entered HD 60 race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pinellas County Tax Collector Adam Ross is endorsing Republican Melissa Rutland just one day after she entered the race for House District 60.<\/p>\n

Rutland is running for the seat currently held by Democrat Lindsay Cross who announced earlier this month she would not seek re-election<\/a>. Rutland was the first and so far is the only Republican to file for the race, though one other Republican has expressed an interest in running.<\/p>\n

Rutland is a small business owner whose Pinellas County roots stretch back more than a century. Her family helped build St. Petersburg\u2019s business community through Rutland Brothers Department Store, Rutland\u2019s men\u2019s store on Central Avenue, and St. Petersburg Bank & Trust, which eventually became Rutland Bank.<\/p>\n

In 2015 Rutland founded her own business, the Rutland Florida Gulf Group, where she specializes in commercial investments.<\/p>\n

Ross said he was proud to endorse Rutland for the seat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMelissa has spent decades building businesses, serving her community, and earning the trust of Pinellas County families through real work,\u201d Ross said, \u201cHer business and community engagement background will be a great addition to the Florida\u00a0House. We need a problem-solver in Tallahassee who will deliver results, and Melissa Rutland is exactly that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutland called Ross\u2019 support an honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam is a trusted voice in our community who understands the affordability crisis facing Pinellas County families every single day,\u201d she said. \u201cHis support strengthens our mission to bring real solutions to reduce\u00a0 insurance costs, cut property taxes, and bring economic opportunity to Pinellas County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman appointed Rutland in 2015 to the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission, where she served for nearly a decade, including a stint as its first female Chair. In 2023, Gov.\u00a0Ron DeSantis<\/a>\u00a0also appointed Rutland to the\u00a0Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County<\/a>, and she also serves on the\u00a0St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership<\/a>\u00a0Board of Directors. She also held a previous role on the St. Petersburg Area YMCA Board for a decade.<\/p>\n

She also previously served on boards for the St Petersburg Museum of History, Florida CCIM West Coast and the Rotary Club of St. Petersburg and as Treasurer of Babycycle, a nonprofit supporting local families with young children.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rutland is likely to draw more establishment GOP support. Her\u00a0campaign filing<\/a>\u00a0lists prominent political finance expert\u00a0Noreen Fenner<\/a>\u00a0as Treasurer. Fenner manages financial operations associated with the\u00a0Florida House Republican Campaign Committee<\/a>\u00a0and many conservative political figures.<\/p>\n

Democrat\u00a0Lindsay Polega-Quigley<\/a>\u00a0entered the race hours after Cross\u2019 announcement, launching her campaign with\u00a0Cross\u2019 endorsement<\/a>. Polega-Quigley, an attorney, is campaigning around affordability and environmental issues, including water quality and flooding concerns.<\/p>\n

HD 60 is a competitive district. Democrats hold a narrow voter registration advantage, outnumbering Republicans by fewer than 1,000 voters out of more than 108,000 registered residents. Cross won re-election in 2024 with 54% of the General Election vote against former St. Petersburg City Council Member\u00a0Ed Montanari.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Florida Politics reporter Jesse Mendoza contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pinellas County Tax Collector Adam Ross is endorsing Republican Melissa Rutland just one day after she entered the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[91810,124893,124894,39855,127487,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-304054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-adam-ross","tag-florida-house-district-60","tag-hd-60","tag-lindsay-cross","tag-melissa-rutland","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}