Castor wins Tampa election
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor easily won reelection yesterday. But 20% of valid votes went to write-in candidate, Belinda Noah. In City Council races, some Castor allies didn’t fare well. Incumbent Bill Carlson beat Blake Casper in a South Tampa District. Incumbent Orlando Gudes appears to have lost to Gwen Henderson in East Tampa. A citywide seat is heading for a runoff between incumbent Lynn Hurtak and Janet Cruz. Incumbent Guido Maniscalco will be in a runoff with Florida Rising organizer Robin Lockett, as will Alan Clendenin and Sonja Brookins, who both got more votes than incumbent Joseph Citro. And in West Tampa, incumbent Charlie Miranda will face Hoyt Prindle in the April 25th runoff if he doesn’t clear the 50 percent threshold in yesterday’s election. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “The 13.6% turnout was slightly higher than in 2015, the last time an incumbent Tampa mayor didn’t draw a strong opponent. Just 32,815 people voted. Mail-in ballots were slightly lower than in 2015.”
DeSantis State of the Union address
The regular session of the Florida Legislature began yesterday and Governor Ron DeSantis gave his closely-watched State of the State address. DeSantis is widely believed to be preparing for a run for president and he used his platform to tout culture war issues.
University politics
The University of South Florida Board of Trustees heard concerns from students and faculty about what some are calling Governor Ron DeSantis’ “war on education” on Tuesday. There was a short, peaceful sit-in before an outside rally after the board meeting. Sam Badger is co-president of the graduate student labor union. He says the governor’s education proposals threaten the university’s healthy academic community.
Four members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society were arrested at USF after a rally for inclusion on campus on Monday. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “protesters say officers with the University Police Department used excessive force while the department said in a statement that students started the clash.”
Minimizing river impact
Spring break season is quickly approaching. That’s a time when Florida’s fragile rivers can get damaged from overuse. Local and state partners are looking to minimize potential environmental damage to one popular Hernando County destination, Weeki Wachee.
New abortion legislation
In Florida, most abortions are illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Tuesday marked the start of a new legislative session. Republican lawmakers just filed bills that would cut that time to six weeks.
Information from the Florida Public Radio network, News Service of Florida and Associated Press, was used in this report.
