State Rep. Michael Owen, an Apollo Beach Republican, is running for a second term in Florida House District 70 on Nov. 3. He is campaigning on lower taxes, road investment and tighter development rules across the South Shore.

District 70 covers portions of Hillsborough and Manatee counties, including Apollo Beach, Ruskin, Sun City Center, Riverview, Wimauma and Balm.

Owen, an attorney and co-founder of the civil litigation firm Owen & Dunivan, PLLC, has lived in Hillsborough County for more than 40 years. He grew up in Brandon, attended Bloomingdale High School and played baseball on scholarship at Saint Leo University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Before winning the House seat in 2024, Owen served as Hillsborough County Commissioner for District 4 from 2022 to 2024 and sat on the Port Tampa Bay board, according to his Florida House profile. His committee assignments in Tallahassee have included Insurance and Banking, Natural Resources and Disasters, Transportation and Economic Development Budget, and the Select Committee on Property Taxes.

Three Hillsborough measures clear the Senate

Owen sponsored three bills targeting Hillsborough County governance that the Florida Senate approved in a single 36-0 vote, as Florida Politics first reported.

All three passed unanimously.

HB 4029 would place a charter amendment on the November 2026 ballot to expand the Hillsborough County Commission from seven to nine members, all elected from single-member districts. The board would grow to 11 if the county's population reaches 2.5 million in a future census.

HB 4027 would ask Hillsborough voters whether to switch from an appointed to an elected superintendent of schools. The elected superintendent would serve a four-year term starting with the 2028 general election.

HB 4061 would create the Land Reserve Stewardship District, a new independent special district spanning roughly 3,700 acres in southern Hillsborough County. The district would be authorized to plan, finance and build infrastructure including water management facilities, roads and utilities.

The elected-superintendent referendum drew opposition from the Hillsborough County School Board, which voted unanimously against it.

Owen defended the measure in a Wednesday, Oct. 7 interview with Spectrum Bay News 9. "I was a county commissioner in Hillsborough County and I promise you that this was a common drum that was beat for many years," Owen said, "that people would love the opportunity to have more say in who the CEO of their child's education is."

Campaign priorities

Owen's campaign website lists keeping taxes low, investing in roads and infrastructure to reduce traffic, requiring a stricter approval process for new development, supporting the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and attracting high-wage jobs to the county.

His campaign also claims credit for collective state budget actions, including what it describes as $13.8 billion invested in roads and infrastructure, $3.8 billion in spending reductions, $1.3 billion in tax relief and nearly $1 billion in debt reduction. Those figures are self-reported by the campaign and not independently verified.

Owen received an endorsement from the Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) for the 2026 cycle, according to FL Voice News.

No challenger for the District 70 seat was identified in state election filings. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.