TAMPA - Former Hillsborough County commissioner and Tampa mayoral candidate Ed Turanchik has joined the Tampa office of Akerman Senterfitt, the largest law firm in the state.

Turanchik, 55, said that after the mayor's race in March he looked around for a law firm with a public policy practice that matched his background and interests. At Akerman Senterfitt, where he began work of counsel several weeks ago, he said he expects to work on matters of land use and employment law.

He also expects to "stay engaged in the public discussions going on in our region."

"I think you'll see me working on transit issues and a lot of other things near and dear to my heart," Turanchik said. "Those will take a little time to develop. But they don't go away."

The firm said Turanchik's hiring is part of a statewide expansion of its government affairs and public policy practice that included hiring Richard Pinksy as public policy manager and adding three advisors to the firm in Tallahassee.