Jim Lewis keeps running for political office. Next up, another run for Fort Lauderdale mayor.

Anthony Man, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·4 min read

Jim Lewis is hoping the 10th time is the charm.

Lewis, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, has run for local, county and state offices many, many times before. Finally, he said in an interview, he thinks the issues and his candidacy might align.

The perennial candidate is running for mayor of Fort Lauderdale, challenging Dean Trantalis, who was first elected mayor in 2018 and is seeking reelection in 2024.

Lewis has run for office as a Democrat, as a Republican and as an independent/no party affiliation candidate. He said he’s currently a Democrat, as is Trantalis. The office of mayor is officially nonpartisan, and candidates appear on the ballot without party labels.

It’s been 20 years since Lewis first ran for mayor of Fort Lauderdale. Among the other jobs he’s sought previously: state attorney general (twice), Broward state attorney (twice), Broward public defender, Fort Lauderdale city commissioner, circuit judge and state representative. He’s never won.

“People say why do you keep running for things? I think I have a lot to offer,” Lewis said

“I think this is No. 10. I know that’s a lot. And I’m conscious of that. Every time I’ve run, it’s to do the right thing,” Lewis said. “I think sooner or later my number’s going to come up. It’s just timing and message. I think this may be the right time and I may have the right message.”

(He offered a similar assessment in 2022, when he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for state attorney general. “Yeah, I’ve run for every political race out there except dog catcher, but every time I believe that it’s the right thing to do, and maybe this is the right time for me,” Lewis said during that campaign.)

Platform

For his 2024 candidacy, Lewis said he plans to draw attention to issues that frustrate people about the city he’s lived in for 36 years: out-of-control development, waste of taxpayer money, lack of planning, and crumbling infrastructure.

“I love this city. Love the people of this city and I don’t like the direction that it’s going,” Lewis said.

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“There need to be some changes. I think the city is not going in the right direction. It seems that developers and big money interests are running the city,” Lewis said. “All I see are agendas that are having to do with just a bigger, taller, more dense city. And the neighborhoods are being ignored. Pipes are bursting.”

“Regular middle class folks can’t hardly afford to live in Fort Lauderdale any more. They’re being priced out,” he said. The city “spend(s) money like there is no tomorrow. We can’t do that any more.”

He said Fort Lauderdale needs a new direction. He said city government lets problems fester for too long, without taking action. And he said Trantalis, who previously served as a city commissioner, bears some responsibility. “Mr. Trantalis has been there for a while,” Lewis said. “Now’s the right time for a change in leadership.”

Trantalis said Lewis is offering an “interesting narrative,” but it’s not accurate.

“Mr. Lewis is a nice person. He’s well intentioned. Much of what he has to say is a narrative that has long since been disproven. And he would know that if he were more involved in our community. He’s been very absent for many years and speaks to the past and has no message for the future,” Trantalis said.

The incumbent acknowledged that some issues had gone unaddressed for years, but said issues such as stormwater, water and other infrastructure issues have had solutions put in place under his mayoralty.

About Lewis

Lewis, 66, was a prosecutor decades ago and has spent most of his career as a defense lawyer. (Like Trantalis, he received his law degree from Stetson University.)

He has lived in multiple neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale over the past 36 years, most recently in Coral Ridge and by year’s end will be living downtown.

In 2022, Lewis received 27% of the vote, finishing third in the three-way race for the Democratic nomination for attorney general.

In 2020, he ran as a Democrat for his party’s nomination for Broward state attorney. He finished seventh in an eight-candidate Democratic primary, with 4.8% of the vote. He qualified to run — and his name appeared on the ballot — as “James ‘Jimmy’ Stewart Lewis.”

In 1994, he received 21% of the vote in the mayor’s race, losing to then-Mayor Jim Naugle. At the time, Naugle described Lewis as “tenacious.”

Lewis filed paperwork to run again for mayor, in 2018, but dropped out. If he’d have remained in the race, his 2024 candidacy would be his 11th campaign.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.