Peter Schorsch
Tampa City Councilman Harry Cohen will officially kick off his campaign for Tampa Mayor with a June 6 fundraising reception.
The kickoff event will be held at the Tampa Museum of Art, 120 Gasparilla Plaza, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Supporters interested in attending can send an RSVP to [email protected].
Cohen filed for the race to replace exiting Mayor Bob Buckhorn on the last day of March. He faces former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor, Michael Hazard, Topher Morrison, philanthropist David Straz, fellow Tampa Councilman Mike Suarez and former County Commissioner Ed Turanchik.
Cohen, a two-term city councilman, has earned a reputation for being a prolific fundraiser, and it looks to be well-deserved given his first full-month campaign finance report. As of April 30, he had raised $190,000 for his campaign and had $187,930 cash on hand.
That puts him behind only Castor in the crowded mayoral race. She had raised about $225,000 through the same date and had $218,537 in the bank, though a large portion of that money was raised in the months leading up to her announcing for the race. Turanchik has raised about the same amount as Cohen, but over 100 days instead of 30.
The mayoral election will be held March 5, 2019, when Tampa holds its municipal elections. Also slated for the ballot are several city council seats. The new mayor and councilmembers will take office on April 1, 2019.
The invitation to Cohen’s fundraiser is below.
