Janelle Irwin Taylor
St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari sailed to an easy victory over challengers Orlando Acosta and Zach Collins in Tuesday night’s primary election for District 3, which represents voters in northeast St. Pete.
Montanari dominated the three-way race, securing more than 71 percent of the vote with all precincts counted. Acosta nabbed the number two spot with 20 percent of the vote and will face Montanari in the Nov. 5 general election.
Collins earned just 9 percent of the vote.
Overall voter turnout in the race was 16.5 percent.
“I’m deeply honored and humbled by the trust District 3 voters have placed in me to continue to be their voice on City Council,” Montanari said. “I look forward to the debate in the general election about how to build a consensus on important issues to protect and preserve our quality of life, ensuring our economy is working for everyone, improving our infrastructure, and protecting our environment.”
Montanari’s dominance in the primary came as little surprise. He came into the race with an advantage as the incumbent and he furthered that edge by aggressively raising funds to spread his message to voters.
According to the final campaign finance reports ahead of Tuesday’s election, Montanari had raised more than $77,000 compared to Acosta’s $14,000. Montanari will head into the general election campaign maintaining that edge armed with a $33,000 war chest. Acosta will start the next leg of his race with just $2,000 in the bank.
The race is likely to get more competitive heading into the general election. Montanari is the only Republican currently on City Council. Acosta is a Democrat.
The primary was open only to voters in that district, while the general election will be open to voters citywide.
District 3 leans Republican with 9,570 registered Republicans and just 8,047 Democrats. But those demographics take a drastic shift citywide. Democrats nearly double Republicans citywide with 84,834 registered Democrats compared to 49,130 registered Republicans, according to the most recent tally by the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections office.
While the partisan divide in a citywide election could give Acosta a boost, his campaign faces a challenge capitalizing on that. City Council races are nonpartisan, meaning Acosta’s campaign cannot advertise political affiliation in campaign events or on campaign materials. Candidates’ political affiliation is also not included on the ballot.
Montanari has also built a campaign around working together regardless of political views. His demeanor on council for the past eight years demonstrating a soft touch with colleagues on issues for which he disagrees has earned him the support of six of his seven colleagues.
