Janelle Irwin Taylor
The race to replace St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari is a crowded one, with five candidates from various corners of the political spectrum all trying their hand at local politicking.
The race features a registered Republican, a registered Democrat running as a conservative, a nonpartisan candidate, a mainstream Democrat, and a progressive activist, giving voters from just about any persuasion something to look forward to on the Aug. 20 ballot.
Montanari, who is not seeking re-election due to term limits, hasn’t weighed in on a preferred successor, but it’s worth noting that right now, Montanari is the only Republican serving on City Council, though the seats are technically nonpartisan.
That’s likely because Montanari’s District 3 is one of only two in the city with a voter registration advantage for Republicans (the other is District 1 in west St. Pete). Republicans in the northeast-based district outnumber Democrats 8,983 to 7,156, with another 5,650 voters registered with no party affiliation. With a GOP advantage of more than 1,000 voters, it’s the most conservative district in the city.
That’s important information in the race considering the top fundraiser, Nick Carey, is a progressive activist. The next top fundraiser, Mike Harting, is a political independent. In the middle of the pack is Pete Boland, the race’s only registered Republican. Establishment Democrat Juan Lopez narrowly trails Boland in fundraising, while Barry Rubin, a registered Democrat running as a conservative, brings up the rear.
The Primary is open to only voters registered in District 3, which gives an advantage to Boland, Harting and Rubin. But because the top two vote-getters in the Aug. 20 Primary will head to the General Election in November, then Carey’s fundraising advantage, if it gets him at least to the No. 2 spot, could put him in a better situation in a citywide election. There, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 73,000 to just over 47,000.
Still, it is likely to be a close race.
Here are details on the candidates, in alphabetical order:
Pete Boland
Boland, who owns The Galley and Mary Margaret’s Old Irish Tavern, calls St. Pete his “forever home,” having been born and raised in the city and later becoming a local small business owner. Boland ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 2021, losing in the Primary that year to then-City Council member Robert Blackmon and then-Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who went on to win the General Election that year, becoming the city’s first African American Mayor. While Boland failed to make the runoff that year, he ran a serious campaign, raising more than $50,000 in just the few weeks of the campaign alone.
Boland has bipartisan staffing to help him along the way, including Helmich Consulting, the firm founded by Republican Party of Florida Interim Executive Director Bill Helmich, and seasoned Democratic operative Reggie Cardozo as his lead consultant.
And he’s been raking in support. He received the coveted recommendation from the Tampa Bay Times. In its recommendation, the Times editorial board said it appreciated “his straight talk,” which they said “was a breath of fresh air” when he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 2021. The recommendation also cited Boland’s “firm grasp” on strategies to “keep downtown thriving,” and touted his plans to increase zoning density to increase housing supply and drive prices down. Other notable highlights include nods to Boland’s campaign priorities to address flooding and reduce building costs by streamlining permitting processes.
In May, Boland rolled out more than 70 endorsements from local small businesses and new staff to fuel his pro-growth and innovation campaign.
He’s middle-of-the-pack in fundraising, with nearly $54,000 brought in as of Aug. 2, and about $14,000 still on hand.
Nick Carey
Carey is a faith-based community organizer with the group Faith in Florida. He became involved in city politics as the current housing crisis was beginning to take firm hold in St. Pete. He was among demonstrators calling for rent control and other affordable housing initiatives.
Carey moved to St. Pete from North Carolina in 2017. In 2020, he left his career as a chemist to get involved in progressive organizing, after becoming what he described as radicalized by the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Floyd’s death that year sparked a summer of intense protests against police brutality.
Carey is the top fundraiser in the race, as of August 2. He’s brought in more than $75,000, most from small dollar donations highlighting his grassroots-based campaign. Of that, he retains about $37,000, also more than any of his opponents.
Mike Harting
Co-owner of the popular St. Pete brewery 3 Daughters Brewing, Harting wants to bring his business success to city government. His platform centers on fiscal responsibility while also reducing city taxes and fees to help with the ongoing affordability issues plaguing areas like St. Pete and beyond. He also wants to focus on working with employers to ensure residents have access to good-paying jobs and to streamline government regulations to attract new job creators. He is also running on a pledge to work toward improving the city’s aging infrastructure.
3 Daughters Brewery is known throughout St. Pete not just for its tasty beverages and lively entertainment venues, but also as a charitable beacon. The company has worked with more than 150 local charity projects each year, including a line of kid’s beverages served with the “Men in the Making” program in Pinellas County School.
3 Daughters was also one of the first in the nation to utilize its production facility to make and distribute — for free — hand sanitizer during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when stores were struggling to keep commercial products on shelves.
Harting, like Boland, has been aggressively collecting endorsements. Most recently he landed support from former St. Pete City Council members Blackmon and Kathleen Ford. He also has support from Sen. Darryl Rouson and former Sen. Jeff Brandes, as well as City Council member Gina Driscoll, among others.
Harting is the second-best fundraiser in the race, with more than $73,000 brought in as of Aug. 2 and a little less than $27,000 still on hand.
Juan Lopez
If Lopez had to pick the biggest thing going for him in this race so far, it’s probably the early backing he nabbed when first entering the race back in November. Then, he already had support from former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. But that wasn’t his only institutional support. Lopez also earned early support from former Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller, former Rep. Sean Shaw, who is now running for Hillsborough County Commission, and former St. Pete City Council member Steve Kornell.
But his campaign has been largely quiet. He’s second to last in fundraising, with nearly $49,000 raised and about $15,000 still in the bank, as of Aug. 2.
Still, Lopez has a strong platform. He was raised in St. Pete by his family, Cuban refugees who came to the United States in search of the American dream. The family has lived in District 3 since 1975. Lopez works as a sales executive for the Tampa Convention Center where he has helped lead record-breaking revenue and economic growth in the Tampa Bay region, according to his résumé.
He also touts community leadership, including work with the Council of Neighborhood Associations, the St. Pete Police Citizens Academy, St. Pete Together, Feeding St. Pete, and others. Lopez also serves, when needed, as a hurricane shelter operations supervisor. And he said his commitment to serving the community runs deep — his mother was a teacher and his father worked in public works.
He’s running to address housing affordability; improve transportation and overall quality of life; manage population growth and preserve the city’s identity; and to continue work on a new Rays stadium and historic Gas Plant district redevelopment.
Barry Rubin
Rubin is the CEO of the Treasure Island and Madeira Beach (TIMB) Chamber of Commerce. He’s also the CEO of the St. Pete-based human resources firm, HR Inc.
He’s showing his conservative might with two Republican endorsements — one from Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala and another from Pinellas County School Board member Dawn Peters, a Moms for Liberty-backed education official who faced criticism during her initial campaign over perceived allegiances to the controversial Q-Anon, an affiliation Peters later denied. But he also has support from at least two Democrats — former Rep. Jennifer Webb and Wengay Newton, also a former Representative and a former City Council member who is now running to get his old job back.
Rubin, however, faces a funding disadvantage in the race, with less than half raised as his closest challenger at just $20,000. And as of Aug. 2 — the most recent date for which data is available — he had just about $5,000 of that remaining.
