Janelle Irwin Taylor
Early voting for Tampa municipal elections starts Monday at seven locations citywide. It runs through March 1. Election Day is March 3.
Officials expect voter turnout this election to be low despite more absentee ballots being returned than the previous municipal election.
That’s because there’s not a lot of action on the ballot. There won’t be anyone’s name next to Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s. He drew write-in challenger Jorge Vazquez, but voters would literally have to write his name on the ballot.
Incumbents running for re-election didn’t draw formidable challengers. Lisa Montelione and Mike Suarez both have one challenger, but neither raised enough money to run much of a campaign. The same goes for Yvonne Yolie Capin. Frank Reddick is unopposed and Harry Cohen has outraised his opponent, Kent King, by nearly double.
There’s a bit of activity in the District 2 and 6 races. District 2 is being vacated by council member Mary Mulhern because of term-limits. District 6 council chair Charlie Miranda is also term-limited out. He’s running for Mulhern’s seat against Julie Jenkins and Joseph Citro. Miranda has outraised both despite coming into the race late.
Miranda’s seat has three candidates vying for it. Though that race has seen the most competition, little has been heard from the candidates. Jackie Toledo has a commanding fundraising lead with $115,000 compared with Thomas Clark Castellano’s $31,000 and Giudo Maniscalco’s $32,000.
Despite low voter turnout projections, nearly 11,000 vote-by-mail ballots have been returned so far. More Democrats have voted than Republicans.
Early voting begins at 10 a.m. at select locations. It closes at 6:00 p.m.
Here are the locations:
- C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library, 2607 E Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Fred B. Karl County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd., 16th floor.
- Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S Manhattan Ave.
- New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd.
- North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 N. Boulevard.
- Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center, 2514 N Falkenburg Road.
- West Tampa Branch Library, 2312 W Union St.
If necessary, a runoff will be held March 24.
Election day is March 3, with runoffs, if necessary, on March 24. Voters can cast an early ballot at any of the available locations. Election Day voting, registered voters must cast a ballot at their assigned polling place.
