Janelle Irwin Taylor
The people who wield the most power can draw both strong support and vehement opposition. Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson knows what that’s like.
After only narrowly making the cut on last year’s list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians, Carlson has this year jumped an impressive seven spots, from No. 25 to No. 18. And he’s had plenty of headlines over the past year to explain why.
Most recently, Carlson waged a fight — one he’s been accused of seeking as political retribution — over City Council leadership.
It was a brief, but dramatic, saga, which started with Carlson voting to reinstall colleague Guido Maniscalco as Council Chair for another one-year term. In turn, Maniscalco appointed Carlson to lead the Council’s Public Safety Committee, a post seen as politically advantageous for Carlson to shore up support from law enforcement ahead of an expected run for Mayor in 2027.
But the honeymoon didn’t last long. After local Police Benevolent Association members said they weren’t particularly keen on someone they see as anti-law enforcement leading conversations about public safety — a charge Carlson flatly rejects — Maniscalco removed Carlson from the post and replaced him with City Council member Luis Viera, who had already led the public safety panel.
But it didn’t stop there. In a move Carlson was accused of making out of revenge, he made a motion to reconsider the Chair vote, then switched his support from Maniscalco to Alan Clendenin, effectively ousting Maniscalco from his leadership role. Carlson denied it was retribution, and instead said it was over a letter from Mayor Jane Castor to Maniscalco that was not shared with the rest of the Council.
The entire fiasco drew questions as to whether backroom dealing had occurred, which would be a violation of Florida’s Sunshine laws.
Still, it was a reminder that Carlson’s political ambitions run deep. Few in the city have as public a feud with current Mayor Castor and former Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Throughout his tenure on the City Council, Carlson has frequently challenged mayoral authority and called out anything he sees as overreach. Now, he’s likely to face Buckhorn at the ballot box, as both are expected to run for Mayor in 2027 when Castor’s term expires.
While there are already other candidates running, and there could be more, it’s likely that all eyes will be on the Carlson-Buckhorn feud and the constant barbs that will no doubt yield.
“Bill Carlson’s seat on City Council has not taken away his status as a neighborhood leader. He works hard to do what is best for the citizens of Tampa,” said Stephanie Poynor, President of the Tampa Homeowners Association of Neighborhoods (THAN).
“He is very fiscally conservative. Bill believes in responsible financial policy like fixing holes in our roads and stormwater management before blowing funds on vanity projects like the West Riverwalk, Hanna City Center and now the North Ashley Drive project. We have to take care of the basics before we buy extras. Bill knows and understands that is what is important to the citizens and our neighborhoods.”
Poynor said she hopes he runs for Mayor.
In the meantime, Carlson is no stranger to critique. Late last year, his nomination of a Young Republican leader, Jake Hoffman, to a city advisory board sparked opposition from the local LGBTQ community. Critics of the nomination pointed to what they described as an anti-grooming video Hoffman had used in a political campaign.
Carlson’s support for Hoffman — especially in the face of Castor being the city’s first openly gay Mayor — caused some to wonder if Carlson was attempting to earn conservative support ahead of his expected mayoral bid.
Carlson, meanwhile, denied he had nominated Hoffman and said he had merely asked him to help identify a fiscal conservative for the role.
And while it’s past news, political onlookers may remember what helped land Carlson on this list last year after he earned another four years on the Council by defeating Caspers Company CEO Blake Casper with 59% of the vote. Castor backed (and, some speculate, actually recruited) the fast-food magnate in his quest to oust Carlson.
Carlson delivered a walloping victory despite a massive funding deficit and powerful forces working against him.
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A special thanks to RSA Consulting Group, the sponsor of this year’s rankings.
As for methodology, we define the Tampa Bay region as Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco, but we can also include Hernando, Polk or Sarasota if the politicians from those counties impact either Pinellas or Hillsborough.
We define a politician as being in office or running for office.
Being first on a panelist’s list earns the politician 25 points, second earns them 24 points, and so on, to where being listed 25th earns a politician one point. Points are added and, voilà, we have a list.
We also want to thank our experienced and knowledgeable panelists, who were essential to developing the 2025 list: Vinik Family Office Chief of Staff Christina Barker; communications consultant Ashley Bauman of Mercury Public Affairs; Matt Blair of Corcoran Partners; Reggie Cardozo of The Public Square; Stephanie Cardozo of The Southern Group; Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick managing partner Ron Christaldi; former state Sen. Janet Cruz; political consultant/strategist Barry Edwards; Vicidial Group President Matt Florell; Sunrise Consulting Group President Shawn Foster; businessman Michael Griffin; Clay Hollis of Tucker/Hall; Natalie King of RSA Consulting Group; Moffitt Cancer Center VP of Public Affairs and Communications Merritt Martin; former state Rep. Seth McKeel of The Southern Group; political consultant Chris Mitchell; Mike Moore of The Southern Group; RSA President and CEO Ron Pierce; Tucker/Hall CEO Darren Richards; political consultant Jim Rimes; political consultant Preston Rudie of Catalyst Communications Group; TECO VP of State and Regional Affairs Stephanie Smith; lobbyist Alan Suskey of Shumaker Advisors; Doyle Walsh, Chief of Staff for St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch; Michelle and Peter Schorsch, publishers of Florida Politics.
