Bob Buckhorn announces 2027 campaign for Tampa mayor: Seeking rare third term
Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is running again
Tampa’s 58th mayor is hoping to also become the city’s 60th. FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is running to reclaim the office, eight years after leaving city hall amidst an urban renewal that saw dozens of new buildings downtown spring.
"I said (in 2019) that they would have to pry the desk from my cold, dead hands," Buckhorn stated.
Accompanied by his wife, Catherine, he hand-delivered papers to the county office building declaring his candidacy for the election, which will be held in March 2027.
"This is like coming home," Buckhorn said after dropping his papers off.
He was greeted by a phalanx of cameras and reporters.
If name recognition, fundraising and poll numbers are indicative, he enters the race as the favorite.
A poll taken last year showed him with 49 percent support, nearly enough to avoid a runoff.
He has nearly $2M in his campaign account, dwarfing totals from his previous races, and also dwarfing the other candidates in the race.
"We're going to go out there and run our best campaign ever," he said. "We're going to let our record speak for ourselves. The other nine, I'm sure, are going to talk about me a lot. And I'm okay with that."
The other candidates
The other public official in the race is Tampa City Councilor Lynn Hurtak.
"You deserve a city where everyone from gig-workers to business owners can speak up," she said in her campaign launch video.
Councilor Bill Carlson is also expected to announce soon.
He has long been a detractor of Buckhorn's.
"The public wants us to focus on things like stormwater and road repair and growth," he said during an interview with Fox 13 several months ago.
Dig deeper:
There are already eight other people in the race, which could make Buckhorn winning 50 percent in the first round a challenge.
Further, he acknowledges politics has changed since he last ran in 2015.
Affordability is a lot more pressing issue; Florida has moved rightward politically, and mayors have become full-time social media characters, much like President Trump.
Buckhorn acknowledges the landscape has shifted, and pledges to meet the moment with pushes for affordable housing and transportation.
Those challenges have grown out of the city's own success, successes that he insists were a product of his time in office.
"I challenge any of the folks running against me to come out and outwork me. I just dare them," said Buckhorn. "We're going to we're going do exactly what we did in 2011 when nobody thought we could win. And we went out there and knocked on 20,000 doors to win that election."
Building Tampa's next chapter
Buckhorn says his campaign will focus on building the city's next chapter.
"You look at all the opportunities to connect the dots in this city, to look at Water Street and connect it to Channelside and Channelside to Gasworx and Gasworx to Tampa Heights, Tampa Heights, across the river, touching every neighborhood in the process and making sure everybody enjoys this prosperity at the end of this period," shared Buckhorn. "This place is going to be that place in America everybody wants to come and be a part of," he continued.
Buckhorn says transportation is one of Tampa's biggest challenges.
"Right now it's our Achilles heel. If we don't fix it, we're going to end up like Miami in Atlanta. And we don't want to do that. So we've got to invest in it. We've got to find a way to pay for it. We've got to believe in multimodal options for transportation. It can't just be building roads. But at the end of the day, that is the most critical infrastructure challenge moving forward. We can fix the potholes. We can pave the roads," he explained.
He's seeking to do what few before him have done by becoming Tampa mayor for the third time.
Buckhorn served two consecutive terms as mayor from 2011 to 2019. During that time, Tampa rose to national prominence and became a place people are moving to and, more importantly, choosing to stay. Buckhorn was incredibly popular in his time in office, closing out his term in office with a 75% approval rating.
Before becoming mayor, he served on Tampa City Council from 1995 to 2003. And, he'll face at least one other candidate familiar with city hall.
Buckhorn on the Rays
On the biggest issue facing the city of Tampa, a potential new Rays stadium, Buckhorn wouldn't commit one way or the other, but says the numbers have to work for the city in order to earn his support.
He says you can't sell your soul for a sports franchise, and also acknowledges the ask of the public is big.
But he also says he believes the Rays belong here, and that he's excited about the potential remake of Hillsborough College.
No mayor of Tampa has returned to office since April 1995, when Dick Greco took office more than twenty years after leaving city hall.
What's next:
If he wins, Buckhorn would become the city's 58th and 60th mayors.
The 2027 Tampa mayoral election will be held on March 2, 2027, with a runoff election on April 27, 2027.
The Source: Information for this story is based on previous FOX 13 reporting and a press release from former Mayor Bob Buckhorn.