And then there were two. Tampa’s special election for the District 5 seat on city council wrapped tonight, with Thomas Scott and Naya Young headed for a runoff next month.
District 5 currently includes just over 45,000 voters. Just 5,411 voters cast ballots in total, with 2,137 doing so by mail and 923 voting early. Total turnout this time for what was basically a primary was 12%.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections reports vote totals between 1-29 votes as a dash (-).
The race was triggered after the untimely death of first-term Tampa City Councilwoman Gwen Henderson.
Henderson beat incumbent Orlando Gudes by 81 votes in the 2023 municipal election when 5,163 voters cast ballots in the district.
The special election field included 12 qualified candidates and one write-in.
Henderson’s daughter, Ariel Amirah Danley, entered the race promising to carry on her mom’s legacy, and earned 9.7% of the vote.
Scott, a former city council and county commission member, finished in first place with 27% of the vote. He was also the most funded candidate. He raised $51,695.25 and reported $30,455.72 in expenditures, according to the latest reporting from the SOE.
Young, former executive director of the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, earned her spot with 13.29% of the vote. She spent a little over half of her $20,262.67 in campaign donations.
Tom DeGeorge, owner of Ybor City music venue Crowbar and leader at the National Independent Venue Association, staged a strong campaign, and took home 9.7% of the vote. He raised $18,230, spending about half.
Darrell Ashley Dudney finished with just 45 votes, less than 1%. Last week, the businessman and past Creative Loafing Tampa Bay photographer took the unusual step of telling his supporters to vote for Young instead of him.
Longtime East Tampa advocate Fran Tate (10.13%), and “Selling Tampa” Realtor Juawana Colbert (8.18%) had decent showings. Tate, founder of Jackson Heights Neighborhood Association and East Tampa CRA Community Advisory Committee member, raised exactly $18,225 and spent almost all of it—$17,713.32.
City council races are nonpartisan, but the runoff features two Democrats. While registration in District 5 leans heavily towards Democrats, Tampa Rep. Dianne Hart previously worried that the large field would give one of the four Republicans in the race a chance at making it to the final two.
The race also ensures that Tampa’s District 5 will be represented by a Black person as it has been since the seat was created .
It was a virtual certainty that no candidate would receive more than 50% of the vote, which means that Tampa should now prepare for a runoff that kicks off on Oct. 23 with early voting. Election Day is Oct. 28.
Only registered voters who live in Tampa’s District 5 can vote in the election.
The district stretches as far south as DeSoto Park in Palmetto Beach and north to the First Church of God within earshot of the roller coasters at Busch Gardens. It spans from the West Tampa Branch Library to the Grant Park neighborhood in East Tampa. Large swaths of the Heights neighborhoods, Ybor City, Wellswood, downtown, Water Street, and Davis Islands are all inside of it.
In remarks after results came in, DeGeorge told supporters that through knocking on doors and making calls, his team reached people who said they had never felt seen in politics.
“Win or not, we built a movement around fighting for a better Tampa,” DeGeorge wrote on social media. “We’re not done – this is the beginning of something much bigger.”
He also “wholeheartedly” endorsed Young in the runoff, adding that the community must “support candidates who inspire real change.”
“She is the best person for the job, by far, and is truly a representation of the best this district has to offer. My team and I are ready to get to work for her, and we ask that you all join us,” DeGeorge added. “Together, we are a force for change.”
Businessman Albert Cooke, who finished with just over 1% of the vote, said this is not the end for him and his team, adding that, “Together, we will keep working, keep serving, and keep fighting for the future our community deserves.”
Scott, who earned twice the amount of votes of any other candidate, thanked supporters and his family for their backing in a “hard-fought race.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Scott wrote on social media. “A special thank you to the other candidates for running a respectful and clean campaign. I believe each of us share the same passion, to see the City of Tampa and District 5 become a better place for all people.”
This is a developing post.
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