An exterior architectural cityscape photograph by Visit Tampa Bay showing Tampa City Hall. Captured in a telephoto horizontal shot in downtown Tampa, Florida, the historic 1915 clock tower and upper Beaux-Arts and Renaissance-style facade of Tampa City Hall rise prominently in the center, topped by a dark copper dome and a U.S. flag flying in the breeze. Modern glass-and-steel skyscrapers tower directly behind and beside the historic white-and-tan masonry landmark, while red traffic signals, a no-right-turn street sign, green tree foliage, and a partial white speed-limit sign appear in the lower foreground under bright daytime sunlight.
Tampa City Hall Credit: Visit Tampa Bay

On Tuesday Nov. 17 Tampa’s city council will make one of its most consequential decisions yet.

Luis Viera vacated his District 7 seat the day before being elected to House District 63. An election to replace him takes place in March, but Tampa’s charter—which is kind of like the city constitution— says the remaining council members have to appoint a replacement in the meantime.

Whoever is appointed will represent a district often referred to as the “Alaska of the Tampa Bay area.” It starts north of Busch Boulevard, covering Forest Hills, Terrace Park, University Square, up to the New Tampa area.

Of the 109,000 residents in the district, there were 18 applicants. Of those, 14 were determined eligible by city staff—including three people who have already filed to run for the seat in March.

Before voters approved Florida’s property tax-cutting Amendment 3 earlier this month—likely slashing funding for local governments across the state—the council voted 4-3 to borrow $80 million and send it to the Tampa Bay Rays to help the team build a new stadium across the street from Raymond James Stadium.

Viera was a reliable “yes” vote for the Rays. A staunch opponent of the stadium could change the course of the city’s support for the project.

The appointee would also have an incumbent advantage heading into the March election, should they choose to run.

So far, three people have filed paperwork with Hillsborough Supervisor of Election to run for the seat: Patricia Alonzo, Alan Cohn, and Morris Lopez III. All three applied for the appointment

Michael Bishop runs the Tampa Monitor and told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that a few consequential votes could happen before March’s election.

Bishop said the appointee may have to make some big decisions about the stadium community development district (CDD). Their vote could affect how taxes and responsibilities are split between the city, the county, and the CDD itself.

The appointee may also have to weigh in on the city’s new land development code. “That will, in some ways, fundamentally change how development gets done in the city of Tampa,” Bishop told CL.

Bishop said the new appointee will have a steep learning curve, especially if they haven’t been paying attention to the issues coming before council in the next few months. He said the one advantage the appointee does have is they won’t have to make budgeting decisions before the election.

So who’s running for Tampa City City Council District 7 appointment?

CL obtained a copy of the applications and resumes of each of the prospective city councilors. Note that all of the biographical information is submitted by the candidate, and may or may not be accurate. CL made best efforts to verify residency and job title.

Applicants include a Trump field organizer (Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah), newspaper editor (Gene Siudut), activist and organizer (Robin Lockett), physician (Jim Davison), and more.

City council will vote on applicants at their next meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m. Four of the remaining six council members need to agree on the appointee.

The last time city council appointed a new member was in April 2022, when Lynn Hurtak landed in the citywide District 3 seat in a 4-2 vote. She was one of 23 people who applied, and won election a year later. At the time, Hurtak told CL that she separated herself because of her previous service on many of the city’s boards and commissions.

The 2027 City of Tampa Municipal Election ends on March 2. Early voting days are to be determined, and the voter registration deadline is Feb. 1, 2027.

An indoor event portrait photograph by Dave Decker showing Patricia Alonzo at the Hillsborough County Democratic Party annual Kennedy-King Gala on August 8, 2026. Captured in a medium horizontal shot in front of a white step-and-repeat backdrop patterned with repeating red, white, and blue "D" logos featuring stars and stripes, Patricia Alonzo stands centered smiling broadly toward the camera. She wears a strapless black dress accented with an oversized black bow across the bodice and a black-and-white polka-dot skirt, paired with a layered black beaded choker necklace and long dark hair styled loose over her shoulders under bright indoor event flash lighting.
Patricia Alonzo at the Hillsborough County Democratic Party annual Kennedy-King Gala on August 8, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Patricia Alonzo
Occupation: Director of Strategic Partnerships for Equiti Health, a medical technology company that helps underserved communities with language access barriers receive medical services.
Born: Chicago, Illinois
Tampa resident: 24 years
District 7 resident: 24 years

Alonzo has already filed to run for the seat in March. Alonzo previously spoke with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, where she said she wants to address socioeconomic disparities in the district.

During that interview, Alonzo didn’t go as far as to say she would have voted against the new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, but said she would have asked some “really difficult questions.” Back in 2024, she took a run for District 2 County Commission, but lost to Ken Hagan.

Alonzo said her interest in democracy comes from her parents, who she said lived under a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

A radio studio photograph by Ray Roa showing Alan Cohn at WMNF in Tampa, Florida on May 2, 2025. Captured in a tight side-profile shot inside a broadcast booth, investigative journalist Alan Cohn speaks into a broadcast microphone while wearing over-ear studio headphones. He has short silver-gray hair and wears a red, navy blue, and white plaid short-sleeved button-down shirt, set against a dark blue acoustic wall panel and warm wood-finished studio door frame under soft interior broadcast lighting.
Alan Cohn at WMNF in Tampa, Florida on May 2, 2025. Credit: Ray Roa / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Alan M. Cohn
Occupation: Senior Advisor at CLYDE, a DC-based PR firm; and Omni Public, a Tampa-based PR firm
Born: Suffern, New York
Tampa resident: 17 years
District 7 resident: 17 years

Cohn is one of three people who have filed to run for the seat in the March election.

Cohn is a former investigative reporter who won Peabody and Emmy awards for his investigations. Since 2018, he’s worked in advocacy and PR. He even ran for congress as a Democrat in 2020.

Cohn most recently served as Vice-Chair on Tampa’s City Charter Review Commission.

CLYDE, where he currently works as an advisor, is a communications firm that touts having “worked with businesses in the crosshairs of regulators, … preserving their ability to operate and more.”

CLYDE’s clients include CropLife—a lobbying firm for pesticide manufacturers—and private student loan giant Sallie Mae.

Cohn told CL in a written statement: “I worked with Clyde in their nonprofit advocacy division specifically on efforts by a bi-partisan association of election supervisors, including Hillsborough County Election Supervisor Craig Lattimore, in their efforts to improve public confidence in our voting system after it was undermined during the 2020 Presidential election. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem.”

Cohn also works with Tampa-based Omni Public, a communications firm which is also developing an AI operating system for drones and humanoid robots. During his time with Omni, Cohn has co-authored op-eds advocating for sending AI-operated robots to war zones in place of soldiers.

His resume lists both as current occupations.

Cohn previously told CL that he has reservations about the Rays stadium, but praised Viera and council member Bill Carlson for their negotiations with the team’s owners. He strongly opposed Florida’s Amendment 3.

A professional campaign portrait of Tampa City Council District 3 candidate Candice Cowen smiling warmly at the camera. Framed from the chest up, the individual stands slightly turned to the side while looking forward. They have long, dark hair styled in thin micro-braids or locs gathered into a high ponytail that cascades behind them. They are wearing thick-rimmed, black cat-eye glasses, small gold hoop earrings, a purple top under a tailored black blazer, and have their arms crossed. The background features a brightly lit, softly blurred outdoor city street scene with palm tree
Candace Cowen Credit: Campaign handout

Candice Monique Cowen
Occupation: Community Development Specialist with Tampa’s Housing and Community Development Department
Born: Tampa, Florida
Tampa resident: 42 years
District 7 resident: 9 years

Cowen applied to the District 7 seat, but she’s already a candidate for the citywide Tampa City Council seat in District 3. She hopes to replace Lynn Hurtak, who will step down from the seat to run for mayor.

Cowen has been endorsed by State Rep. Michele Rayner, State Rep. Dianne Hart and Hillsborough County School Board Chair Karen Perez.

Cowen previously told CL that her priority as an at-large council member would be affordable housing.

An indoor event portrait photograph showing Jim Davison (L) and Luis Viera at Mission BBQ in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 11, 2025. Captured in a medium horizontal shot inside a bustling restaurant, Jim Davison stands on the left smiling while holding a black plastic takeout food container, wearing a plaid button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves and light khaki trousers. Beside him on the right, Luis Viera smiles warmly wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a navy blue quilted zip-up jacket over a grey shirt. Behind them, bright yellow walls are decorated with framed first-responder memorabilia—including a mounted yellow firefighter helmet, a framed tan turnout coat labeled "H.C.F.R.," a framed sheriff's uniform shirt, patches, and blue banners with gold text reading "GRADUATES"—amid seated diners under warm indoor restaurant lighting.
Jim Davison (L) and Luis Viera at Mission BBQ in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 11, 2025. Credit: Luis Viera / Facebook

Jim Davison
Occupation: Emergency physician
Born: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Tampa resident: 33 years
District 7 resident: 33 years

Viera beat Davison by just 65 votes in an election for this very seat back in 2016. Then-mayor Bob Buckhorn endorsed Viera in that race shortly after Davison said Tampa was neglecting New Tampa and that the region shouldn’t rule out seceding from the city. That was a decade ago; Davison wasn’t immediately available to comment on his current position on New Tampa secession.

Davison had a few other runs for office in the past, including bids for Hillsborough County Commission in 2002, 2004, and 2024.

Davison is listed as a director of Fix Our Roads First, a group that advocates for expanding roadways over investing in public mass transit.

An indoor community event photograph showing Robin Lockett at the C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library in Tampa, Florida on July 9, 2026. Captured in a medium horizontal shot in profile facing left, Robin Lockett speaks into a black wireless handheld microphone held with both hands. She wears a black short-sleeved dress accented with decorative gold buttons down the front, gold hoop earrings, a gold bracelet, rings, dark-rimmed glasses, and shoulder-length blonde-and-brown braided hair pulled back with a patterned headband, standing in front of an orange-and-wood-paneled wall with seated audience members visible in the lower foreground under warm indoor lighting.
Robin Lockett at the C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library in Tampa, Florida on July 9, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Robin Lockett
Occupation: Regional director of Florida Rising
Born: Hempstead, New York
Tampa resident: 61 years
District 7 resident: 12 years

Lockett is a longtime Tampa Bay organizer. She’s already a regular at city council meetings, where she advocates for social and economic justice on a weekly basis.

CL endorsed Lockett when she ran for the District 2 city council seat, but she lost to Guido Maniscalco in a runoff election (he was our second choice).

Lockett has been an especially fierce defender of tenants rights; she even once chewed out Viera for expressing reservations about rent control.

Viera, Maniscalco, and several other members of city council sang Lockett’s praises when she ran for the state legislature earlier this year.

Back then, Tampa Councilman Carlson called Lockett “a tireless and passionate advocate for the community who has worked closely with City Council to find solutions for housing and affordability.”

Lockett, who is a constant presence at city hall, told CL she’s not running for the seat in March.

“I don’t think the council should have a thumb on the scale,” Lockett said. She said that if the council nominates someone who plans to run for election in a few months, that candidate would have an “undue advantage.”

Lockett has been a vocal backer of the Rays stadium since the owners promised affordable housing, jobs, and funding to revitalize the Yellow Jackets Little League team.

When asked how she’d vote on future stadium issues, she said she’d take it “one vote at a time.”

“I would not be just a placeholder,” Lockett told CL. “I can engage in the conversation about different issues, because I’ve been at city council.”

A headshot photograph showing Morris Lopez III. Captured in a centered medium close-up shot outdoors, third-generation Tampa native and public servant Morris Lopez III smiles broadly at the camera. He wears a dark green collared polo shirt, set against a soft, out-of-focus background of lush green garden foliage under warm natural sunlight.
Morris Lopez III Credit: Courtesy / Morris Lopez III campaign

Morris Lopez III
Occupation: Division chief at Hillsborough County Fire Rescue
Born: Tampa, Florida
Tampa resident: 61 years
District 7 resident: 30 years

Lopez is one of three candidates who have already filed to run in March’s election for the District 7 seat.

Lopez previously told CL he doesn’t know how he’d have voted on the Rays stadium deal, but that the economic development “could be a good thing” if it happens.

He also said he’s not a politics guy, but that he’s been attending city council meetings in an effort to learn how it works.

A studio headshot portrait photograph showing Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah. Captured in a close-up chest-up shot against a solid dark charcoal grey backdrop, Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah faces forward with a warm, slight smile. She has long, straight copper-blonde hair parted on the side and falling past her shoulders, and wears bold red lipstick, a navy blue windowpane-plaid blazer layered over an open-collared crisp white button-down shirt, and a long strand of white pearls under soft, even studio lighting.
Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah Credit: belinda.noah / Facebook

Belinda Gail Quarterman Noah
Occupation: Former lawyer, now produces a series of educational material about legal frameworks
Born: Florida
Tampa resident: 23 years
District 7 resident: 23 years

Noah was a licensed attorney in Florida until October, when she was officially disbarred for allegedly lying on an application for a Florida Supreme Court seat.

The Florida Bar filed a complaint saying that Noah didn’t disclose a previous suspension from practicing bankruptcy law due to failing a debtor client in a bankruptcy case.

The bar also said she exaggerated her legal experience, lied about having a Ph.D., and lied about attending Harvard Law School.

Noah denied those claims in a detailed written statement to CL.

She said she’s currently attempting to appeal the disbarment, and that the Florida Bar got the facts wrong. Noah said the case was a “gross miscarriage of justice.”

“My disbarment is a gross miscarriage of justice and must be reversed. My position is unequivocal: no intervening evidence justified escalating The Florida Bar’s proposed admonishment and educational requirements to disbarment,” she wrote. “My explanations, disclosures, and corrections should have reduced the assessment of culpability. Instead, this sanction has caused and continues to cause profound professional and financial harm after more than 43 years of legal practice and public service. It has also jeopardized substantial potential compensation for years of contingency work. As an African American and Native American woman, I ask that my concerns about discriminatory and disparate treatment receive independent examination. My motion for rehearing remains pending. I ask that the complete record, not simply the disciplinary summary, be examined, and that the Florida Supreme Court vacate the disbarment order, restore my eligibility to practice law in Florida, and dismiss the disciplinary proceeding.”

Noah was also a field organizer for Donald Trump’s 2020 run for president. On her resume submitted for the city council role, she just lists this as a “presidential campaign.”

An exterior portrait photograph by Ray Roa showing Gene Siudut at La Gaceta in Tampa, Florida on Dec. 15, 2023. Captured in a medium chest-up shot outside the newspaper's storefront, Gene Siudut smiles warmly toward the camera, wearing rimless rectangular eyeglasses, a dark blazer with a small circular lapel pin, and an open-collared crisp white button-down shirt. Behind him, a grid of glass blocks borders a large storefront window displaying white lettering that partially reads "LA GACE[TA]," "PUBLISHED SINCE 192[2]," and "The Nation's Only Tri-Lingual N[ewspaper]," with a decorated miniature Christmas tree visible inside the window under soft overcast daylight.
Gene Siudut at La Gaceta in Tampa, Florida on Dec. 15, 2023. Credit: Ray Roa / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Gene Siudut
Occupation: Editor and columnist at La Gaceta
Born: Edison, New Jersey
Tampa resident: 27 years
District 7 resident: 10-plus years

Siudut has run for this seat before in 2016. He, Viera and Davison all competed to represent New Tampa.

Siudut is the assistant editor at Tampa’s 104-year-old trilingual Ybor-based La Gaceta, where third-generation publisher Patrick Mantiega has penned columns in opposition to the Rays stadium deal council has moved forward. Siudut has not chimed in on the Rays, and told CL that without final drafts and paperwork in front of him, he’s refraining from sharing an opinion on council votes.

“I can say that the City has entered into an agreement committing substantial public money to the project. Should I be the choice to fill the seat, I believe the obligation is to protect taxpayers, enforce the agreement and make sure the public receives the greatest possible benefit from that investment,” he added.

He previously told CL that he has still not made a decision about fling to officially run for election to the District 7 Tampa City Council seat in the spring. He affirmed that position this week.

Nasrin Aldawoodi
Occupation: Anesthesiologist at Moffitt Cancer Institute
Born: London, England
Tampa resident: “7 years currently but grew up here”
District 7 resident: 7 years

Clifford M. Allen
Occupation: Sales manager for an industrial equipment company
Born: Nashville, Tennessee
Tampa resident: 25-plus years
District 7 resident: 15-plus years

Kamolika Batabyal
Occupation: Recently elected to K Bar Ranch Community Development District, previous
experience in public health and IT management
Born: Kolkata, India
Tampa resident: 5 years
District 7 resident: 5 years

Darnell Eason
Occupation: Former law enforcement officer in New York state
Born: Mineola, New York
Tampa resident: 4 years, 10 months
District 7 resident: 4 years, 10 months

Eyad John Gheith
Occupation: Communications for an investor-owned electric company
Born: Akron, Ohio
Tampa resident: 5 years
District 7 resident: 3 years, 6 months

Jessica Parks
Occupation: Head of human resources at an outdoor lighting company
Born: Michigan
Tampa resident: 5 years
District 7 resident: 5 years

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This article appears in Nov. 12 – 18, 2026.