Even though he said when he applied to become an interim member of the Tampa City Council in the summertime to succeed Linda Saul-Sena in Tampa's District 3 seat that he did not intend to run again this March, Curtis Stokes has changed his mind, and announced to his friends and supporters via Facebook earlier today that he will run in the citywide District 1 seat early next year, joining Sara Romeo and Guido Maniscalco in that election.
In his message on his Facebook page, Stokes, a former head of the Hillsborough county NAACP branch, seemed to be acknowledging that some people might question him for announcing his candidacy after saying earlier this year he wouldn't run again, writing:
After careful thought and deliberation I have decided to file. We are facing a change in our city govt that has rarely happened, every seat on the city council is up for election, this is unprecedented and it is nothing I considered when I accepted the appt in July. I want to see our city grow.
However, CL reported back in January that Stokes announced at an event regarding high speed rail in Tampa's Union Station that he would run as a Democrat for Tampa City Council in 2011 in District 2.
That seat is currently held by Mary Mulhern, who has yet to formally announce her plans for re-election yet.
In Tampa's District 6 seat, currently held by Charlie Miranda (who may or may not run for re-election next year), activist Kelly Benjamin was expected to submit his petitions to qualify for the ballot to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office today.
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.