Tampa Mayor Jane Castor easily wins reelection

TAMPA — Mayor Jane Castor cruised to a second term Tuesday over token opposition, firmly securing another four years leading a city undergoing a glittering transformation while grappling with the growing pains that have come with it.

With nearly the entire vote in, the incumbent mayor won 80% of the vote, with nearly 20% throwing support to a write-in candidate. By comparison, former incumbent Mayor Bob Buckhorn won 96% of the vote facing a write-in candidate in 2015.

But Castor will have to wait to gauge how much resistance she will face as she continues to shape her legacy, with four of six City Council races heading to an April 25 runoff.

Her chief council opponent, Bill Carlson, easily held his South Tampa seat while another regular opponent, Orlando Gudes, appears to have lost to Gwendolyn “Gwen” Henderson in the city’s only Black-majority district. Another key race, the District 3 citywide seat, heads for a runoff between Lynn Hurtak, a Castor opponent, and Janet Cruz, the mother of the mayor’s longtime partner, Ana Cruz.

Castor, 64, a former Tampa police chief, won her first term in a landslide over the late philanthropist David Straz Jr. in 2019. Her second win came even easier against write-in Belinda Noah.

“I am honored and humbled to be reelected mayor of our great city,” Castor said in a statement. “I am so grateful for the support, trust and enthusiasm of so many residents who appreciate the direction Tampa is heading.”

The 13.6% turnout was slightly higher than in 2015, the last time an incumbent Tampa mayor didn’t draw a strong opponent. Just 32,815 people voted. Mail-in ballots were slightly lower than in 2015.

Along with a Tampa election history strongly favoring first-term mayors, Castor was buoyed by a city experiencing booming private investment that’s ushering in a dramatic change to the city’s landscape.

Giant construction projects that will remake parts of the downtown skyline are underway or in the planning stages. They include the massive Water Street project begun under Buckhorn in the former Channel District and the Gas Worx megadevelopment that will soon break ground between it and Ybor City.

Castor won national praise for her response to the COVID pandemic, taking a lead in local mask and stay-at-home orders while also making efforts to help keep struggling businesses afloat. She also shepherded through a $2.9 billion package dubbed PIPES to rebuild the city’s water and sewer systems over the next 30 years early in her tenure.

While Castor’s reelection was decisive, if not competitive, she still may face a City Council that seeks to challenge some of her major policy initiatives.

Despite a last-minute challenge from a wealthy Tampa business owner with some powerful local support, Carlson was the voters’ choice to continue representing South Tampa’s District 4 on the City Council, handily beating back first-time candidate Blake Casper, the former owner of dozens of McDonald’s restaurants who ran on a law-and-order platform.

Theirs was a closely watched race. Carlson, 55, president of the Tucker/Hall public relations firm, has pushed back against Mayor Jane Castor on issues including police oversight and the wastewater reuse project called PURE. He has also accused the administration of political retaliation. Castor endorsed Casper late in the race.

“Luckily, democracy won. Despite all the negative mailers, they failed,” Carlson said. “It’s time to end the dirty politics and work on real solutions for our community.”

Hurtak and Cruz, a former state senator, are headed for a runoff for the citywide District 3 seat on Tampa City Council. Hurtak framed the race around the need to provide a check on the mayor’s office.

Seminole Heights resident Hurtak received 42.5% of votes. Cruz, a Sunset Park resident, received 38.8%.

Hurtak, 45, has pushed back against Castor on issues including the wastewater reuse project called PURE and supported the effort to rein in mayoral power. She was appointed to her City Council seat in April after John Dingfelder resigned to resolve a public records lawsuit.

Cruz, who the mayor endorsed, had said experience as a legislator in Tallahassee for 13 years gives her inside knowledge of how to help Tampa with state resources.

”I’m humbled by the support that we received in the primary,” Cruz said in a statement Tuesday night, once votes were tallied. “It’s clear that the people of Tampa want change and I’m honored to be able to lead that charge.”

Hurtak said, “I’m so grateful for all the supporters. I’ve only been on this job for 10 months, and for so many people to recognize what I’m doing just means the world.”

Meanwhile, Henderson appeared headed for victory Tuesday night over the embattled incumbent Gudes in District 5, which covers East Tampa and parts of West and South Tampa.

Henderson, a longtime educator, had just over 50% of the vote, the threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Gudes had just under 49%.

Gudes, a former police officer who was first elected in 2019, came under fire from Castor after an investigation found he created a hostile work environment for an aide. Henderson, a Jefferson High School department head, is that aide’s sister, though she said that’s not why she entered the race.

Tampa City Council member Guido Maniscalco overwhelmed three opponents in the race for the citywide District 2 seat, but is headed for a runoff.

Maniscalco, who is leaving his District 6 seat representing largely West Tampa because of term limits, and Robin Lockett will square off in the April 25 runoff.

Maniscalco was the leading vote-getter Tuesday with nearly 47% of the vote, with all 123 precincts reporting. Lockett, 58, an organizer with the progressive social advocacy group, Florida Rising, was runner-up with nearly 25%. Mike Suarez, a former two-term council member, was third with just less than 21.6% and Michael Derewenko, a marketing manager for an irrigation manufacturer, received 6.7%.

Voters sent incumbent Tampa City Council member Joseph Citro to a stunning defeat Tuesday, picking challengers Alan Clendenin and Sonja Brookins as their preferred choices for the citywide District 1 seat.

Clendenin, a retired air traffic controller, led with 40% of the vote with all precincts reporting. Brookins, a professor of anatomy, physiology and microbiology at Keiser University, received almost 22.5%, according to unofficial returns. They will meet in the April 25 runoff.

”It’s like a dream coming true to me,” Brookins said. Citro finished third with 20% of the vote.

The race for the West Tampa-based District 6 seat appears headed to a runoff, as Charlie Miranda led the crowded field by a wide margin Tuesday night but not with a majority of the vote.

Miranda, 82, had just more than 49% of the vote with all precincts, early voting and some mail ballots counted.

Hoyt Prindle, a 38-year-old lawyer who had about 22% of the vote, finished second. Should Miranda remain under the 50%-plus-one-vote line, he and Prindle will proceed to a runoff.

On Tuesday, four charter amendments fared well despite very little attention paid to them in a race that focused on pro- and anti-Castor candidates in several races. Castor had urged voters to reject all four amendments.

Voters approved checking the power of the mayor to appoint department heads and administrators, limiting council members to serving four consecutive terms and shortening the length of time between citizen-led charter reviews from 10 to eight years.

They rejected an attempt to give the City Council the power to create city boards.

Times staff writers C.T. Bowen, Jack Evans, Sue Carlton and Olivia George contributed to this report.