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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis is HUGE Tampa turned out and elected @JaneCastor by a 46 point margin She was outspent by about
Whow. I do believe this IS huge. Congrats to Jane Castor
Tampa elects ex-police chief Jane Castor as its first openly gay mayor
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tampa-elects-ex-police-chief-jane-castor-as-its-first-openly-gay-mayor/
April 24, 2019 / 7:25 AM / AP
In a historic election Tampa voters elected by a wide margin a former police chief and openly-gay woman to be their mayor. According to the Tampa Bay Times , 59-year-old Jane Castor trounced in the Tuesday runoff 76-year-old David Straz, a retired banker and philanthropist worth $426 million.
Castor will be the first openly-gay mayor in the history of Tampa and the region.
With 97 precincts reporting, Castor held a lead of about 24,500 votes 73.31% to 26.69%.
Castor ran up an overwhelming lead in early voting despite Straz' record spending: nearly $5 million during the campaign, much of his own money, according to campaign finance reports......................
This is HUGE Tampa turned out and elected @JaneCastor by a 46 point margin She was outspent by about by a billionaire who voted for Trump A former beat cop, police chief, and now the FIRST gay mayor of a major city in the SE 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 #ResistersForum
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
katmondoo
(6,454 posts)malaise
(268,925 posts)NOW
Submariner
(12,503 posts)A very progressive move, yet they voted in Red Tide Rick Scott WHO IS THE CAUSE of the environmental damage to the states shorelines, and he's a medicare fraud crooked felon to boot, a very anti-progressive move.
It's very hard to understand how Florida's backward thinking.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,173 posts)Which explains why nearly all of our statewide races lately have been razor thin.
ancianita
(36,023 posts)Right now, if you can believe it, the Republican governor is going after the Fanjul family sugar monopolists' network in order to save the Everglades.
It's about tourist money over corporate money, but still. He knows he'll be governor again if he beats the sugar gang.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)I felt like I was in the 6th NY Borough and was surrounded by blue. But if I drove literally an hour and 20 minutes to Okeechobee I was in Texas. Drive another hour and a half and you're in Orlando/Disney. Drive another hour and a half north and you're in South Alabama.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,173 posts)Its rural areas tend red, and its urban areas tend blue.
It's no different than California or New York in that respect. I remember driving through portions of upstate New York in 2014 and seeing a multitude of virulent, hateful signs directed towards President Obama.
Last election, Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson won all the major cities of Florida--Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and even Jacksonville (which had previously leaned red for a while). Plus you have the university towns of Gainesville and Tallahassee, which are blue urban oases in otherwise red rural areas.
In the end, both the Governor and Senate races were razor thin, with the good guys barely getting the short end of the stick. Somehow the mobilization in the rural areas just managed to outpace what we brought in the urban areas.
But it's a nationwide dynamic. I grew up in a red area of a blue state (Maryland) so I'm quite familiar with it.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The voters in a Fla. city, TAMPA voted her in, the voters in the entire state of Fla. voted Scott for US Senate.
SWBTATTReg
(22,112 posts)dem in texas
(2,674 posts)We have a similar situation going on here is Dallas. The Citizens Council, a groups of rich, white gillioanries, pick a candidate for mayor and usually their candidate is voted in. We have an election for mayor coming up in May. I will not vote for the Citizen council's pick. My vote probably won't count, but I keep trying.
The Blue Flower
(5,442 posts)It isn't the money, it's the message. That's why I hate all the reporting on which candidate has raised the most $. Dollars are not the same as votes.
Botany
(70,489 posts)butt kicking
riversedge
(70,186 posts)But I think a lot of "Trump Country" areas were thanks to Vlad and the GRU.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212041731
HRC had a lock on FL because of the early vote .... Trump had to get >80%
of all the vote on election day to win FL which was impossible because 2 or 3
Counties that were a large % African American voted that day too.
But still this a sign that America is done w/Trump.
tableturner
(1,680 posts)FakeNoose
(32,630 posts)MadDAsHell
(2,067 posts)So was Beto, and he still almost won. Old money isn't what it once was.
lpbk2713
(42,753 posts)She'll make a fine mayor.
riversedge
(70,186 posts)lpbk2713
(42,753 posts)I get my TV news on the Tampa Bay area stations.
She's the real deal.
spanone
(135,822 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Codeine
(25,586 posts)Incomplete sentences give me agita.