Good morning, America!
Okay, sorry for the feigned enthusiasm. Covering last night's municipal election here in Tampa and coming back early to the office means frankly, we're not too cogent at the moment. But we will have a Rose Ferlita- Bob Buckhorn mayoral final that we're really looking forward to, taking place on March 22.
And how about the Tampa City Council races? Congratulations to Mary Mulhern, Frank Reddick and Charlie Miranda for winning outright in their contests for council seats in Districts 2, 5 and 6, respectively. Of course that means we've got runoffs in the other four contests, including the most intriguing race of all in our eyes: the District 1 race between Mike Suarez and Curtis Stokes, which was the closest race of all the Council elections last night.
District 3's finalists are a bit of a surprise if you believe that newspaper endorsements count for much – but if you believe name recognition uber alles, then the Chris Hart-Yolie Capin finale shouldn't be a shocker.
Harry Cohen couldn't quite pull off the victory last night in the District 4 race, and will face fellow Democrat Julie Jenkins in the runoff, while Democrat Lisa Montelione will take on the man formerly known as "White Chocolate," Charles Perkins, in a District 7 runoff. Yes, that means Joseph Caetano's days at the council are numbered.
We'll write more about these races in the days to come, but we've got a deadline to get our story in the paper for tomorrow, so let's quickly tell you that Tampa Democratic state Senator Arthenia Joyner is part of a lawsuit compelling Governor Rick Scott to take the high speed rail funds. The guv says Joyner and Thad Allman are showing disrespect to the taxpayers for the suit, though obviously they're dissing Scott as well.
the report here.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2011.