Mitch Perry
You might recall that in August of 2012, thousands of Republicans and journalists flooding Tampa for the Republican National Convention were greeted with a billboard that read,” “Welcome to Tampa! Where the mayor and all city council members are DEMOCRATS.”
It was the Cigar City’s time to shine, and a point of pride for a state party that hasn’t exactly had robust success in the state Capitol.
But with five of the city’s seven city council candidate seats up for election (Democrats Frank Reddick and Lisa Montelione have already won their contests without opposition), the all-Democratic board could change by April.
Determined to see that doesn’t happen, the Florida Democratic Party has interjected itself into the local contest, sending out mailers to registered Democrats in Tampa about four Republicans registered for the March 3 ballot.
The front page of the mailer shows an emblem of the Republican Hillsborough County Party, and then the photos of District 2 challenger Joe Citro, District 3 challenger Paul Erni, District 4 challenger Kent King and District 6 candidate Jackie Toledo, where the label, “Right-Wing Republican” has been affixed with an asterisk.
Below that is a photo of Tampa Bay area Republican state legislators Dana Young, Jeff Brandes and Tom Lee, all labeled as “Tea Party Republicans.”
The opposite side of the mailer (which was received by a Democrat residing in District 6) shows a picture of Toledo sandwiched in between Gov. Rick Scott and State Attorney Pam Bondi with the headline, “Tallahassee Republicans,” and then below, “Why are they trying to control Tampa City Council?”
The city council races are nonpartisan, and ideology generally doesn’t play much of a role in local elections here. Though it should be noted that Guido Maniscalco did run as a Republican and lost in 2011, and now is running as a Democrat.
Florida Politics has reached out this morning to the Florida Democratic Party to get more details about the mailing.
