Tampa Mayor Jane Castor launches re-election campaign today

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will file for re-election today at 10 a.m. according to a  press release published by Florida Politics.

As of now, Castor faces two opponents, Jeff Godsell and Belinda Noah, both Republicans. Castor was a longtime Republican before switching to Democrat ahead of her first bid for mayor, which she won against the late businessman and philanthropist David Straz in 2019.

During the past three months, Castor has raised over $36,000 under her Tampa Strong PAC. Most of the donations have come from development, construction and business interests—which marks a trend of where Castor receives a majority of her financial support. Over half of Castor’s election PAC donations have come from development interests.

Tampa’s nonpartisan mayoral election takes place on March 7, 2023. Other municipal positions are up for grabs too, including city council. Earlier this month, former Senator Janet Cruz, the mother of Castor’s longtime partner Ana Cruz, announced plans to run for Lynn Hurtak’s district wide city council seat.

During her first term as mayor Castor navigated the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and launched a massive water and sewer infrastructure repair program.  A statement from her campaign team touts her increasing access to affordable housing, enhancing workforce development, improving government services, and making resiliency and sustainability a central focus for Tampa.

But critics of Castor’s have pointed out unsettling situations such as the City Center at Hanna Avenue project, which experts say violated state law in its bidding process. Castor kept it a secret for six months that she had approved the project. At the same time, she hid from the public that the City of Tampa is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for its crime free multi-housing program, which targeted Black renters for eviction. Meanwhile, she clashed with city council members, claiming that they needed to have more transparency and accountability.

The crime free multi-housing program, now colloquially known as “renting while Black” went on on at the same time as “biking while Black” which also was the subject of a DOJ investigation. Castor and police chief Mary O’Connor—who Castor appointed to controversy earlier this year—oversaw both of the programs during their time working for the Tampa Police Department.

A 31-year veteran of TPD, Castor was the first woman to be named police chief in 2009. As a cop, she served in several roles at the department and worked all around the city. Her campaign team says that as chief, she presided over a dramatic reduction in the crime rate with progressive, community-focused policies, and emerging as a leading national authority on effective law enforcement.

However, over the past couple of years, violent crime is way up in Tampa, especially homicides.

Castor will file for her reelection in-person today at the Supervisor of Elections office located in the Fred B. Karl County Center.

This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2022.