Janelle Irwin Taylor
Perennial Tampa City Council candidate Joe Citro will finally have his seat on the dais. The four-time candidate bested Walter Smith II for the District 1 seat Tuesday night in a 58 to 42 victory.
Citro, a hairdresser by trade, is a regular face at City Council meetings and has participated on numerous boards and city initiatives including work on the city charter, code enforcement and civil service boards.
Citro’s “CITY Plan to Put Tampa to Work” emphasizes careers, infrastructure, transportation and youth development.”
Citro finished first in the March 5 election with 31 percent of the vote, about 11 points ahead of Smith. He also had an advantage in fundraising. Citro raised $53,000 compared to Smith’s $18,000.
While Citro entered the runoff with an edge, he faced a potential hurdle collecting votes from voters who had previously supported losing candidates. That’s how Mayor Bob Buckhorn came from a distant second place finish in the 2011 Tampa Municipal Election to soundly beat Rose Ferlita who had been the frontrunner.
Citro also staved off a potentially crippling endorsement his opponent nabbed from former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
Citro will replace Mike Suarez, who is leaving office because of term limits. He’ll be sworn in May 1 for the citywide district.
3 comments
Austin Powers
April 23, 2019 at 9:20 pm
Gillum has lost his mojo.
Bill Rodriguez
April 24, 2019 at 5:17 am
Citro is awful and will only be in office for one term. Don’t get comfortable hairdresser! Also he was fired from his last two places of employment and no one likes him.
David Cutler
April 24, 2019 at 5:27 am
The hairdresser won God belt Tampa!
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