He’s been teasing the announcement for months. On Monday, Bob Buckhorn will make it official.
The former leader of Tampa, who served two consecutive terms from 2011 to 2019, is expectedto file his paperwork Monday morning to run for mayor.
His campaign will be “focused on building the city’s next chapter, one rooted in proven leadership, real results, and a future that reaches every neighborhood,” a news release read.
Buckhorn joins nine other candidates in the race to replace Mayor Jane Castor, who must leave office due to term limits. And with less than a year until the March 2027 election, he holds a commanding financial lead.
A political committee supporting Buckhorn has raised more than $1.8 million, including more than $400,000 in the most recent quarter, according to campaign finance reports.
Much of that money comes from real estate, development, engineering and investment companies.
The largest contributionsin the first quarter of this yearinclude $200,000 in February from Ayon Capital LLC, an investment firm; $50,000 in March from N.C.J. Investment Co.; and $25,000 in March from Daci Aviation Management LLC.
The committee also received several large contributions last year, including $100,000 in September from a division of Vinik Sports Group, which manages the Tampa Bay Lightning and Benchmark International Arena, and $50,000 in October from a company associated with Patrick Zalupski, the new managing partner of the Tampa Bay Rays, who are seeking to build a stadium in Tampa.
Buckhorn got his start in Tampa politics as a special assistant to then-Mayor Sandy Freedman in 1987. He served on the City Council from 1995 to 2003 before launching unsuccessful bids for mayor and the Hillsborough County Commission in the early 2000s.
If elected, Buckhorn would join a small group of Tampa mayors to serve more than two terms, including former Mayor Dick Greco.
“I’ve seen firsthand what Tampa can achieve when we focus on results and put people first,” Buckhorn said in a statement last week. “The support we’re seeing reflects a belief in proven leadership and a clear goal: building a Tampa for all of us, where opportunity reaches every neighborhood and no one is left behind.”
Several other local leaders have joined the race.
There’s Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak, who announced her bid in February. Taryn Sabia, an urban designer and assistant dean at the University of South Florida’s College of Design, Art & Performance, followed days later.
Gary Hartfield, a businessman and former vice chairperson of the Hillsborough Transit Authority, filed his paperwork to run for mayor last month.
City Council member Bill Carlson has yet to announce his campaign, but has said he plans to file “in the next couple months.”
Also announced are Anthony Gilbert, a popular food influencer; Alan Henderson, who would be among the youngest mayors in Tampa’s history; Julie Magill, a general contractor; and Tres Rodman, a paralegal who would be Tampa’s first transgender mayor.
Two others, Ryan J. Edwards and Reginald B. Strachan, have also declared their intentions to run.