Tampa Bay’s biggest stories of 2025

In 2025, the most read stories on Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s website illustrate a readership extremely interested in police accountability, Trump’s homegrown attorney general, immigration, elections, and the environment (you guys really care about what happens as FDOT makes plans to touch up the Courtney Campbell Causeway!).

But your eyes went to more than just hard news, with stories about the SNAP shutdown, Hulk Hogan’s death, Tampa rapper Doechii, and the defunding of Creative Pinellas being widely read, too. Below is a quick and dirty recap of some of the biggest stories from the last 12 months. Buckle up for 2026.

The race for Tampa’s District 5

City Councilmember Gwendolyn Henderson’s sudden death last June shocked and saddened much of Tampa. The District 5 representative frequently stood for residents of East Tampa who have long lamented the way their neighborhoods have been treated, especially during the city’s recent years of rapid growth.

The special election for her replacement saw 13 candidates plus a write-in, including Henderson’s daughter (Ariel Amirah Danley), Crowbar owner Tom DeGeorge, former Tampa Pride head Carrie West and Pastor Elvis Pigott—who later flashed a gun at a City Council forum. The final race came down to activist Naya Young, 33, and longtime Tampa politico Thomas Scott, 72. Despite Scott vastly out-raising her, Young won by a landslide with 61% of the vote. Her win mirrored the later success of Zohran Mamdani, whose win for New York City mayor made ripples in Florida with the message that young, progressive grassroots leaders stand a chance against establishment money.

Bradley’s crash

A high speed chase that started on Interstate-275 ended with four dead and 11 injured at a gay bar in Ybor City in November. While chasing a suspect allegedly suspected of street racing that night, Florida Highway Patrol made an unsuccessful PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver—in which the pursuing vehicle attempts to cause the pursued vehicle to spin out of control—about 2,000 feet from Bradley’s on 7th. The deceased victims were later identified as 25-year-old Christina Richards, 41-year-old Lisa Johnson, 53-year-old Sherman Jones and 53-year-old Marlon Collins. The fallout of the FHP’s failed PIT maneuver and the trial of the driver—22-year-old Silas Sampson—are likely to develop well into 2026.

Mural combat

After Gov. Ron DeSantis lost many battles in 2024—courts blunted his “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop WOKE” laws—he took the war to the roads. Following Trump’s takedown of D.C.’s “Black Lives Matter” street mural, the Florida Department of Transportation decided that all street murals must go. That meant no more rainbow crosswalks and pavement declarations that “Black History Matters.” So, too, went non-political murals, like USF St. Pete’s Bulls-themed crosswalk. A bright spot for some of the “woke” included the City of Tampa erasing the city’s infamous “Bock the Blub” pro-police mural.

Pastors Andy Oliver and Benedict Atherton-Zeman were arrested for blocking state workers from removing St. Pete’s “Black History Matters” mural outside the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum. The mural was later repainted overnight by an unknown artist, then re-erased by the state. Private pavement murals have since popped up around Tampa Bay. As part of her “Love Thy Neighbor” project, Michelle Sasha rallied local painters to provide free Pride and Black Lives Matter murals to local property owners. “We’re going to paint back thousands,” Sasha told CL in September. “Hopefully they’ll regret their decision, because now there’s going to be way more rainbows than they were hoping for.”

Cringe-a-mania

Tampa Bay lost one of its biggest icons when Hulk Hogan died in July. The wrestling legend, born Terry Bollea, died of a heart attack at 71-years-old in his Clearwater home. Though he was booed at his final WWE appearance in January and his newly-launched wrestling league struggled to sell tickets, he maintained a large fanbase—many of which also wanted to “Make America Great Again.” In the month leading up to his death, Hogan and his wife, Sky, battled rumors that he was dying after complications from a neck surgery. It was one of more than two dozen surgeries Hogan underwent to alleviate back and neck pain after his WWE career. Over the fall, Hogan’s family requested an investigation into whether his care teams at Tampa General and Morton Plant Hospitals committed malpractice in treatment leading up to his death. No suit has been filed yet.

The real alphabet mafia

Trump and Elon Musk’s brief fling left thousands of federal workers without jobs, and may have permanently changed the way Florida state and local governments interact. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led to DeSantis trying to create a copycat Commissioner of Government Efficiency (COGE).

That wasn’t necessary, as his newly appointed state chief financial officer, Hernando County Republican Blaise Ingoglia, quickly began audits of the state’s largest municipalities—including Tampa, Hillsborough, St. Petersburg and Pinellas—for the rebranded Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight (FAFO). FAFO reviewed spending by 11 local governments, claiming to have found more than $1.86 billion in alleged wasteful and excessive spending. Local governments have pushed back against what Ingoglia claims is wasteful, like St. Pete and Pinellas’ spending toward the St. Pete Pride parade. The fight is somehow really about property taxes, which DeSantis has said he wants a ballot initiative to substantially reduce for homestead properties. In the legislative 2026 session, Ingoglia is pushing a proposed law that would give him authority to recommend removal of any elected official for “financial abuse, malfeasance or misfeasance.”

Jolly times

David Jolly wants to be the next Dunedin native in the governor’s mansion. After representing Pinellas County as a Republican in the House of Representatives from 2014-2017, he’s now running for governor as a Democrat. Charlie Crist, who held the same congressional seat and was also a Republican when he was governor from 2007-2011, failed to beat DeSantis in the last election. Jolly faces an even redder Florida and a different GOP opponent. Eyes are on Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner to see who will land on the November ballot. Lt. Governor and former Tampa Senator Jay Collins is rumored to also be vying for the seat.

There were signs

Anti-Trump “No Kings” protests brought tens of thousands of people to the streets this year, and of course, the governor took the chance to go on a right wing podcast to talk about hitting protestors with cars (Tampa police for its part, asked anyone demonstrating “to do so in a safe and responsible manner”). The resistance is alive in Florida. WMNF raised more than $280,000 during an emergency fundraiser last summer after DeSantis and Trump cuts left the community radio station with a $230,000 funding gap). One of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s photographers, Dave Decker even got swept up in it when he was arrested last month while covering an ICE protest in Miami (he spent more than a day in jail, and charges were just dropped last week).

Charlie Kirk

The brutal September murder of the right wing agitator rippled all the way to Florida where vigils brought out mourners and Jesus Christ cosplayers, while teachers and government employees saw themselves among those targeted for online comments about the killing. Florida House Rep. Berny Jacques (R-Seminole) posted to social media a letter he sent to Pinellas Superintendent Kevin Hendrick, calling on him to fire teachers who have conducted “abhorrent” behavior on their social media accounts since Kirk’s death. He cited one instructor who he said posted “good riddance” after Kirk was shot.

Clouded rainbows

The future of Tampa Pride is up in the air after a September announcement that the celebration would shutdown for a year. The board blamed anti-DEI politics and added that it wouldn’t renew the contract of its president and co-founder Carrie West. But locals from every part of the LGBTQ+ community have been coming together to see what a Pride celebration in Tampa would look like. “I don’t foresee a parade, but there are other events we can do,” former Tampa Pride board member Mark Eary told CL. “We just need to get everybody on board.”

Chronister chronicles

Hillsborough’s Sheriff Chad Chronister got the big headlines this year, after multiple high-ranking deputies resigned or got fired in the wake of an academic cheating scandal. One of his former detectives even called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to start an independent investigation. In a six-page letter, James Stahlschmidt detailed allegations of academic dishonesty, abuse of taxpayer and charity funds, retaliation, domestic violence and other forms of misconduct perpetrated by command staff at HCSO, which he claims can be “supported by internal investigations, prior disciplinary actions, civil lawsuits, public records, or statements from personnel involved.”

Chronister pushed back on the letter and Stahlschmidt’s calls for the investigation in a statement to CL, adding that he has full trust in HCSO’s Professional Standards Bureau to conduct an inquiry. The gov’ didn’t say a peep about it, and Chronister opted for an internal investigation, which ended with the sheriff saying the cheaters made choices that were “wrong” but “not malicious.” OK.

The SNAP gap

Three million Floridians rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal program best known as SNAP. More than a million of those people are children. When the government shutdown hit the month-long mark last October, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to calls to safeguard the program for his constituents by passing the buck. Local restaurants, however, ditched politics and banded together to make sure kids could eat when benefits ended by offering free meals.

Sorry, Shilo

Shilo Sanders, son of NFL legend Deion, spent time in Bucs camp as an undrafted free agent and was ultimately cut—but not before telling fans that he loves the food at Water Street hotspot Boulon Brasserie. “If I got free food from here, that would be the best NIL deal in the world,” he said of an eclectic, hefty, order that included the restaurant’s Best of the Bay winning blue crab beignets.

Creative Pinellas

It’s an awkward moment for arts and culture in Pinellas County, punctuated with the September defunding of the county’s designated arts agency, Creative Pinellas, which saw county commissioners vote 5-2 to revoke funds despite 244 emails and more than 50 well-researched in-person pleas weren’t enough to save the nonprofit. The remaining staff will soldier on, but how the arts get funded in 2026 will be telling.

Sun rising

Last June, in front of more than 5,000 fans packed into a sold-out Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School, Tampa Bay Sun FC dominated play in the first-ever USL Super League championship match, earning a 1-0 overtime win over Ft. Lauderdale United FC. It was a shining moment, and while things aren’t as sunny at the club right now (our side is dead last, with just one win), the future of pro women’s soccer in the Bay area is still bright.

Swamp things

All eyes are on Crowbar this year (the lease is up this summer, signaling the end of a 20-year run for the famed Tampa music venue), but a special talent from 2910 E Genesee St. dominated local music headlines. Tampa rapper and Blake alum Doechii took home a 2025 Grammy award for Best Rap Album and staged one hell of a homecoming show for 6,500 fans who sold-out Yuengling Center just seven miles away from the address mentioned in “Boiled Peanuts” from the album Alligator Bites Never Heal.

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This article appears in Dec. 25 – 31, 2025.