The Tampa Six Pack: The rich field of candidates vying to be Tampa’s next mayor

Moments before Dick Greco was to give a speech announcing his unprecedented fifth campaign for mayor of Tampa last November, it was difficult to navigate through the swarm of bodies in the lobby of the InterContinental Hotel.

Acknowledging the size of the crowd, Greco political consultant Vic DiMaio observed that John Kerry didn’t draw nearly as many people when he appeared in Tampa during his 2004 candidacy for president.

But John Kerry never conducted business over a café con leche and Cuban toast.

Greco’s 15-minute speech to hundreds of adoring onlookers was the biggest event to date in the race to succeed Pam Iorio for mayor of Tampa this election season. But the 77-year-old’s entrance into the contest was also a defining moment — his candidacy a barometer of where the majority of Tampa residents see their city now.

Is “America’s next greatest city” ready to settle for the human political equivalent of comfort food?

This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2011.