Down To The Wire; Tampa To Elect New Mayor Tuesday

TAMPA, FL -- Following a contentious race between two well-known Tampa leaders, the voters will have the last word on who will replace Bob Buckhorn as Tampa mayor on Tuesday, April 23.

In a runoff election, former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor is battling retired banker and philanthropist David Straz for Tampa's top spot.

Castor and Straz were the top vote-getters among seven contenders for the mayor's seat in the March 5 municipal elections. Castor received 47.98 percent of the vote and Straz garnered 15.47 percent in an election that saw a voter turnout of only 20.56 percent.

Polling places will open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close after the last person in line by 7 p.m. has voted.

Tampa voters must vote in the polling place assigned to their precinct. They can find their precinct by clicking here. Vote By Mail ballots must be received at the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office no later than 7 p.m. Election Day. Voters can drop them off at any of the four elections offices on Tuesday. Mail ballots may not be turned in at an Election Day polling place, but voters can have their mail ballot canceled if they decide they want to vote in person instead.

As of Monday, 16 percent of eligible city of Tampa voters have voted.

The race to become Tampa's next mayor has proven to be the most expensive in the city's history. Castor has raised more than $1 million and Straz $4.7 million.

Entering the campaign late in the game, Straz has taken an offensive approach, accusing Castor of under-reporting crime statistics during her six-year tenure as police chief.

“How can she spin that and tell the people of this city that everything is fine; don’t worry about it?” Straz said. “Crime is down. That’s a lot of crap.”

The accusations forced Castor to defend her record instead of focusing on issues such as transportation, redevelopment and neighborhood safety.

“There apparently are no depths that David Straz won't sink to in his relentlessly negative and bizarre campaign," she said in a statement. "Tampa’s crime numbers have been audited by the FBI, FDLE and the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, and David Straz is welcome to conduct his audit too.”

Straz, who said he's willing to forego the $160,000 salary as mayor, has also been critical of Castor's willingness to accept the salary while continuing to collect the $113,000 annual pension she receives from her 31 years with the Tampa Police.

Castor, referring to Straz' accumulated wealth that has allowed him to donate millions to the Straz Performing Arts Center and the University of South Florida Medical School, quipped that she wouldn't take the mayor's salary either "if I drove a Bentley."

In addition to the mayor's seat, there are three city council seats up for grabs Tuesday.

Joseph Citro and Walter L. Smith II are battling for the District 1 seat.

John Dingfelder and Stephen Lytle are vying to win the District 3 seat.

And Orlando Gudes and Jeffrey L. Rhodes are seeking the District 5 seat.

Patch will provide election updates throughout Election Day.