John Legg is elected Pasco schools superintendent as Republicans sweep House races
John Legg was elected Pasco County school superintendent on Tuesday, winning 59% of votes and beating out opponent Chris Dunning. Both hold doctorates from the University of South Florida and place student success as a high priority, but the commonalities end there.
Legg replaces Kurt Browning, who had served as Pasco's superintendent since 2012.
Legg, a Republican, is a former Florida legislator with experience in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In both, he served as chairman of two education-related committees.
He co-founded and currently serves as the CFO of Dayspring Academy, a public charter school. The Tampa Bay Times reported that amid concerns of him favoring a school he owns, Legg dismissed the idea and emphasized his intention to expand schooling options for all Pasco residents.
His opponent has been a Pasco educator and administrator for 29 years. Dunning has no party affiliation — a decision he made when running to replace Browning when he retired last year.
According to his website, he prioritizes things like safety, staff retention and transparency in the education system.
All four Republican incumbents were reelected to represent Pasco in the state House of Representatives. Each candidate won with a comfortable majority of over 60%.
In the House of Representatives, Republicans Laurel Lee and Gus Bilirakis were also reelected.
Lee once again will serve in Florida's 15th congressional district. She was part of the bipartisan team that investigated the July assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
Bilirakis will serve another term representing Florida's 12th congressional district. He has served in Congress since 2006, and is currently chairman of the Innovation, Data and Commerce Subcommittee.
Mahika Kukday is the WUSF Radio News intern for fall of 2024.