Meet the top fundraisers in Tampa's District 5 race
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Early voting is underway for the special election to fill Tampa's District 5 City Council seat, and there are 14 candidates to choose from.
Why it matters: The winner will represent Downtown Tampa, the Channel District and Ybor City, steering the city's spending, growth and future.
Driving the news: The election is scheduled for Sept. 9.
- Early voting runs through Sunday 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.
Only eight candidates have raised more than $10,000, and with a runoff all but certain, the real fight may come down to who can afford to stay in it.
- Here's a look at the race's biggest fundraisers.
Thomas Scott held public office for 14 years, serving first as a Hillsborough County commissioner before later becoming a member of the Tampa City Council. His priorities are economic development and affordable housing.
- Scott says his proudest achievement as an elected official was helping create the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Area, which has invested millions into the neighborhood.
- He's raised about $42,000.
Juawana Colbert is a member of the Tampa Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and a former member of the Economic Development Advisory Committee.
- Colbert's top priorities are affordable housing, economic development and homelessness solutions. She wants to make city services more responsive and accessible for residents and entrepreneurs.
- She's raised $30,000.
Ariel Amirah Danley is the daughter of the late Councilwoman Gwendolyn Henderson and a co-owner of the Black English Bookstore in Tampa Heights.
- Her priorities include supporting small businesses, affordable housing and improving the city's infrastructure, including drainage upgrades in flood-prone neighborhoods.
- She's raised about $24,000.
Elvis Piggott is 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.
- His priorities include supporting small businesses, generating local employment opportunities and ensuring that public funds support the city's housing and infrastructure.
- He's raised about $22,000.
Thomas DeGeorge Jr. is a co-owner of the Crowbar in Ybor City and a former volunteer board member for the Ybor Chamber of Commerce and the East Ybor Neighborhood Association.
- He wants to place more guardrails on development, ensuring that small businesses and low-income residents are not priced out of their communities, per Bay News 9.
- He's raised about $16,000.
Naya Young is the executive director of the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association and describes herself as the "grassroots" candidate.
- Her priorities include economic development, with a focus on creating opportunities for entrepreneurs, along with better transportation and affordable housing.
- She's raised about $16,000.
Alison A. Hewitt is a member of Tampa's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), who served as executive director at the Florida Office of Urban Opportunity.
- Hewitt seeks to eliminate wasteful spending, invest in violence prevention, improve sidewalks, and expand affordable housing through "community land trusts."
- She's raised nearly $16,000.
Fran Tate is a member of the East Tampa CRA Community Advisory Committee and has over 34 years of community service experience.
- She wants to expand affordable housing through down payment assistance and also supports increased funding for HART to provide more frequent bus service.
- She's raised about $12,000.
Zoom out: Melony Williams, Albert Cooke, Audette Bruce, Darrell Ashley Dudney, Carroll "Carrie" West and Jose Vazquez Figueroa have each raised and spent less than $10,000.