What to know about Tampa Bay election deadlines
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The next few weeks will bring a wave of candidate qualifying deadlines for races across Tampa Bay, from city halls to the state Capitol.
Why it matters: Not everyone who's announced a run for office will appear on your ballot. Qualifying is the first real test of a campaign's viability.
Driving the news: In St. Petersburg's municipal elections, the deadline to qualify is Friday at noon.
- The mayor's race is on the ballot, with seven candidates in the running, including incumbent Ken Welch, former Gov. and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, and City Council member Brandi Gabbard.
- Also up for grabs are City Council seats 2, 4, 6 and 8. To qualify for those races, candidates must be registered voters and have lived in the district they seek to represent for at least one year.
Zoom in: Qualifying has already ended in Clearwater's municipal elections, where City Council seats 4 and 5 are on the ballot.
- For Seat 4, Bianca Latvala, a local GOP strategist and wife of Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala, will face off against Jared Leone, president of the Clearwater Neighborhoods Coalition.
- Vying for Seat 5 are Mark Bunker, a Church of Scientology critic and former City Council member; Kevin R. T. Laughlin, chair of the Clearwater Marine Advisory Board; and Sam Wilson, a 26-year-old district director for U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
What's next: Qualifying for Hillsborough and Pinellas school board and county commission races ends at noon June 12.
- In Hillsborough, County Commission seats 1, 3, 5 and 7 and school board seats 2, 4 and 6 are up for election.
- In Pinellas, County Commission seats 2, 4 and 6 and school board seats 2, 3, 6 and 7 are on the ballot.
Zoom out: Qualifying for congressional races, statewide offices — including governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner and chief financial officer — and state Senate and House seats also ends at noon June 12.
- If you're looking for Tampa, you're too early: municipal elections are scheduled for March 2.