With one of the biggest fields of candidates ever to run for city council in Tampa, Tuesday night's election brought some surprises, leaving four runoff elections to take place on March 22.
In District 1, the closest council race of the night, Mike Suarez beat District 3 interim incumbent Curtis Stokes by 30-26 percent, paving the way for what should be a fascinating and tough race. Speaking to CL at his campaign party at Malio's Tuesday night, Stokes sounded extremely confident about his chances.
"There are some significant events happening in 2012 that will make some significant differences between who Mike Suarez is and who I am," Stokes said, somewhat ominously. But when asked what he meant, Stokes simply mentioned the Republican National Convention coming to Tampa. Suarez, a former aide to Senator Bob Graham, is a Democrat; Stokes is a former Republican who became a Democrat in 2010.
In District 2, there will be no runoff. Incumbent Mary Mulhern had a most impressive showing, knocking out both Republican Scott Strepina and neighborhood activist Susan Long, who ran essentially on a single issue — banning panhandling. Mulhern complained during the campaign of a shallow media landscape that focused excessively on the issue, and it appeared that the voters agreed with her, resoundingly sending her back to the council.
Partisan politics should definitely step up in the District 3 runoff, as former Hillsborough County Commissioner Chris Hart, a Republican, takes on interim incumbent Yolie Capin, a longtime Democratic Party fundraiser. This race showed the power of name recognition, as two younger and more impressive candidates, 40-year-old Seth Nelson and 32-year-old Jason Wilson, endorsed respectively by the Times and Tribune, finished third and fourth in the balloting. The controversial Michael Ciftci came in last.
It will be a battle of two Democrats in the South Tampa District 4 runoff, as former Hillsborough Clerk of The Court official Harry Cohen took home 44 percent of the vote on Tuesday. He'll take on Julie Jenkins, who received 28 percent of the tally. Cohen was a fundraising champ during the campaign, while Jenkins (endorsed by the likes of former City Councilman John Dingfelder) amassed sizable volunteer support.
In District 5, Frank Reddick crushed his opponents, including GaYBOR coalition head Carrie West, in the race to replace Thomas Scott in representing Ybor City, East Tampa and downtown. Reddick served as an interim council member in 2006-2007, but lost to Scott that year.
In District 6, longtime Councilman Charlie Miranda dusted off his youthful challenger, Kelly Benjamin easily, 62 to 38 percent.
And in District 7, Democratic party activist and environmentalist Lisa Montelione will take on Charles Perkins, who has pledged to donate his entire council salary (over $40,000) to crime watch programs if elected. Montelione (an occasional contributor to CL's Green Community blog) entered the race in January; she said she thought somebody else would step up, and when they didn't, she did. Until this campaign, Charles Perkins' greatest claim to fame was the White Chocolate persona he assumed on a Hillsborough County public access channel, drawing the ire of then County Commissioner Ronda Storms.
Just as significant is who did not make the runoff; incumbent Joseph Caetano, the 76-year-old who had a number of financial problems occur during his time on the council.
Caetano was also the first councilmember to introduce legislation to ban panhandling in Tampa, for months a huge issue with some citizens and business leaders.
But the electorate didn't seem to take that "hot" issue into much consideration when deciding at the polls on Tuesday. Mulhern easily survived a direct challenge to her on the issue, while Charlie Miranda and Frank Reddick, who opposed any restrictions on panhandling — setting them apart from most of the 30 candidates on Tuesday's ballot — both won their respective races overwhelmingly Tuesday night, and won't have to endure a runoff.
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2011.