Janelle Irwin Taylor
Tampa Mayoral candidate Jane Castor grabbed a second endorsement from a women’s group. EMILY’s List announced Thursday the group was backing Castor.
The endorsement comes on the heels of Ruth’s List Florida also throwing its weight behind the former Tampa Police Chief.
“Jane Castor is an experienced leader with a proven history serving the city of Tampa,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List. “Jane is a lifelong Tampa resident with over 30 years serving in the Tampa Police Department, dedicating her life to making Tampa a better place to live for all residents. With Jane’s experience managing a large municipal agency, her long-standing commitment to protect and lead, and personal investment in the city’s residents, she is the clear choice to be Tampa’s next mayor.”
Neither EMILY’s List nor Ruth’s List Florida would have endorsed any other candidate. The group only officially supports female candidates and Castor is the only woman in the seven-way race to replace Bob Buckhorn.
Still, both groups could have chosen to not endorse anyone in the race.
“I am incredibly proud to have the support of EMILY’s List, an incredible organization that has dedicated their efforts to supporting and electing women running for office who want to create change and uplift communities,” Castor said. “As Mayor of Tampa, I will work every day to make our city stronger, more prosperous, and more equitable for everyone.”
The national group’s endorsement comes with the potential of a big money boost. Since the group’s founding in 1985 they have helped elect 150 women to the U.S. House of Representatives and 26 to the U.S. Senate. They’ve also helped more than 1,000 women seek state and local offices. During the 2018 election cycle the group raised $110 million to boost its efforts.
Castor is already doing well in her fundraising efforts. She’s raised more than $250,000 for her campaign and nearly $300,000 in her political committee, Tampa Strong. Combined, that puts castor ahead of most of the pack in fundraising totals, but still about $1 million behind David Straz who is mostly self-funding his campaign.
Castor is considered the runaway front-runner in the race, but will likely have to face someone in a runoff. If that’s against Straz, she’ll need the cash.
Castor is raking in endorsements with less than one month before the March 5 election. She’s already gotten seals of approval from the Florida and Tampa Police Benevolent Associations, the Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, among others.
Most Tampa politicos expect Buckhorn to eventually endorse her as his successor, though he has not yet done so.
Jane Castor was born and raised here in Tampa. She graduated from Chamberlain High and attended the University of Tampa on an athletic scholarship. Jane spent over 31 years with the Tampa Police Department, the last six years as the city’ first woman Police Chief. She is currently running to be the next Mayor of Tampa in 2019.
