Meet the candidates: Questionnaire for Hillsborough County Commission D-1

Tampa Bay 28 invited more than 200 candidates running in the Aug. 18, 2026, primary election across our five-county area to submit the following: a candidate photo, a 100-word biography, and responses to three questions: Why are you running for office? In your own words, what differentiates you from your opponents? Explain what you see as the most important issue facing our community and how are you uniquely qualified to address that issue?The following candidates responded to our questionnaire.Jackie Toledo Background(provided by candidate): Jackie Toledo was born in Lima, Peru. Moving to Tampa as a child she graduated from Gaither High School and the University of South Florida. In 2011, she established a scholarship at USF to help Latino students. Toledo is a licensed professional engineer and small business owner. She served as a State Representative from 2016 to 2022, where she served as the deputy majority whip, co-chair of the Womens Caucus, the state director of the National Fo