What to know about Tampa's City Council District 5 race
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Thirteen candidates qualified for the Sept. 9 special election to succeed the late Gwen Henderson in District 5 of Tampa's City Council.
Why it matters: The winner will represent Downtown Tampa, the Channel District and Ybor City, and voters have only a few weeks to choose from the crowded field.
How it works: Only residents of the district may vote in the election. Of about 44,000 active voters, fewer than 6,000 cast ballots in the 2023 municipal race that Henderson won.
- Early voting runs Sept. 4–7 at these locations: C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library; Fred B. Karl County Center; Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center; and the West Tampa Branch Library.
- Mail-in ballots were shipped on Monday to all who requested them. Residents have until Aug. 28 to ask for one.
Zoom in: The candidates who qualified are:
- Audette Bruce, a pastor and former political aide for Republican state Reps. Jackie Toledo, Traci Koster and Berny Jacques
- Juawana Colbert, a member of the Tampa Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and a former member of the Economic Development Advisory Committee
- Albert Cooke, a home inspection instructor and a member of the Tampa Citizen Finance and Budget Committee and the Tampa Police Department Chief's Advisory Panel
- Ariel Amirah Danley, Henderson's daughter and a co-owner of the Black English Bookstore in Tampa Heights
- Thomas DeGeorge Jr., co-owner of the Crowbar in Ybor City and former volunteer board member for the Ybor Chamber of Commerce and the East Ybor Neighborhood Association
- Darrell Ashley Dudney, owner of 'Til Death Hat Co. in Ybor City
- Alison A. Hewitt, a member of Tampa's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), who served as executive director at the Florida Office of Urban Opportunity
- Elvis Piggott, a pastor at Triumph Church who ran unsuccessfully for the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners in 2018 and the Hillsborough County School Board in 2024
- Thomas Scott, a former Hillsborough commissioner and Tampa City Council member, who served as chairman three times
- Fran Tate, a member of the East Tampa CRA Community Advisory Committee
- Carroll "Carrie" West, an Ybor City businessman and president of Tampa Pride
- Melony Williams, a retired Army lieutenant colonel
- Naya Young, executive director of the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association
Follow the money: Scott — the veteran council member — leads the field with more than $35,000 raised, followed by Danley with about $24,000, and Colbert with about $21,000, according to the supervisor of elections.
What's next: With 13 candidates on the September ballot, plus a write-in, a runoff election is all but certain.