The new Tampa City Council are all registered Democrats: But what does that really mean?

District 3 - Yolie Capin. In the closest race on the ballot last night, Capin edged out former Hillsborough County Commission Chris Hart by 1,644 votes.  This was a close race for several reasons. For one, Hart's name recognition was still pretty solid, even though he hasn't been in office since 2002.  Plus, the Republican party of Tampa came out strong for him, and he received endorsements from the Police and Firefighters.  He wasn't great on the stump, but he wasn't bad, either.

Yolie Capin has at times been her own worst enemy. Although she had ran once previously for office (against Fay Culp for state House in 2008), Capin at times struggled getting her basic message out.  Several Democrats expressed concerns about her on the campaign trail, though most (but not all) said they would vote for her.  Obviously, at the end of last night enough had, and the former Democratic party fundraiser will probably vote the "right way" for most of those concerned Dems.

District 4- Along with Mike Suarez, Harry Cohen was as impressive in giving the voters specifics about what he would do in office.  Tremendously well versed on the issues, Cohen wanted the seat badly, putting in a lot of his own money and leaving his Clerk of the Hillsborough Court's job to campaign full time over the last two months.  He's been active in Democratic party politics, and is closely aligned with Pat and Stacy Frank.

We mention that because we heard about that alliance from several supporters of the Democrat that Cohen beat out last night, neighborhood activist Julie Jenkins.  Actually, we heard some resentment in some quarters that Cohen had gotten into the race in the first place.  This is Jenkins second consecutive loss in running for Council.  For those who believe that being active in one's neighborhood should rise above other factors, then Jenkins might have been the pick.  But Cohen's grasp of policy issues triumphed here.

District 5 - Frank Reddick won this going away earlier this month. The longtime figure in East Tampa now gets a full term in office (he served as an interim member in 2006-2007).  With Gwen Miller and Thomas Scott now on the ballot and Curtis Stokes going down to defeat, he is obviously now the only black member of council.

District 6 - Charlie Miranda won decisively over Kelly Benjamin earlier this month, and we'll be interested to see if it's him or Mary Mulhern who will chair the council over the next four years.  Although nominally a Democrat, Miranda votes his own way on issues.  In the last four years, he was a nemesis to Mulhern, and had influence, with Joe Caetano and often Thomas Scott taking Miranda's lead on issues.  Will he able to sway new council members in the same fashion? Will wait and see.

District 7- Lisa Montelione, who reluctantly got in the race at the last minute when she realized that nobody of larger stature was going to challenge incumbent Joe Caetano, also won with a 60%-40% split over her opponent, Charles Perkins.

Perkins violated the famous Woody Allen maxim about success in show business (but also in life): 90% of it is showing up.

The former "White Chocolate" cable access figure we were told by those in the know had "matured," but unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to see or hear that, since the candidate, who fell only four percentage points short of Montelione in the primary, blew off each and every candidate forum that would allow him to sell himself to District 7 voters. Frankly, we really don't get it.  You gotta have a little want in it.  Then again, the voters have done stranger things.

In any event, it's a new council, and a new mayor.  CL looks forward to covering all of these officials over the next four years.