Equality Florida Action PAC Spotlight Candidate Jane Castor Elected First LGBTQ Mayor of Tampa
TAMPA, Fla — Today, Equality Florida Action PAC’s spotlight candidate of 2019 made LGBTQ history today as Tampa’s first LGBTQ mayor. Former Tampa Police Chief and LGBTQ trailblazer Jane Castor finished the night with over 70% of the vote, defeating a self-funded millionaire who spent millions of dollars on attack ads and an aggressive smear campaign.
Tonight’s victory is historic. Mayor-Elect Castor has earned the distinction of being the first openly LGBTQ person to lead one of Florida’s three largest cities; only the fourth openly LGBTQ woman to hold the post of mayor in Florida, and the only LGBTQ woman leading a major city in the Southern US.
“Jane Castor’s victory is a historic milestone for our LGBTQ community,” said Equality Florida Senior Political Director Joe Saunders. “Equality Florida Action PAC members, supporters, and donors showed up in force in this election. We’ve spent months talking to over 30,000 pro-equality voters in the City of Tampa about how important this race is. The phone calls, emails, digital ads and door knocks mobilized our community to support our champion, and that support has made a defining difference. Tampa has a long history of leading the South in policies of inclusion and we look forward to working with Mayor-Elect Castor as she continues the work to keep Tampa a beacon of diversity in the South.”
Tampa is Florida’s 3rd largest city and home to one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the South. Equality Florida Action PAC ran a major run-off election program to engage 30,000 pro-equality voters in the including mobilizing volunteers, door to door canvassing, an aggressive digital program and thousands of phone calls to educate Tampa voters about the stakes in this election.
“I am so grateful to Equality Florida Action PAC and our pro-equality supporters, volunteers and advocates who showed up for this campaign. Equality Florida has a long history of helping to elect candidates who stand for the values of equality and fairness. Together we’ve demonstrated that in Tampa we value and celebrate our diversity. The voters made it very clear tonight that the work you do and the ideas you bring are what really matter," said Mayor-Elect Jane Castor.
Paid Political Advertisement paid for by Equality Florida Action PAC, P.O. Box 13184, Saint Petersburg, FL 33733, independently of any candidate. This advertisement was not approved by any candidate.