Dr. Patricia Alonzo Credit: Campaign headshot
Last July, Dr. Patricia Altagracia Alonzo filed to run for Tampa’s District 7 City Council seat, highlighting what she says are economic disparity in her district.
District 7 starts north of Busch Boulevard, covering Forest Hills, Terrace Park, University Square, up to the New Tampa area.
Two other candidates filed to run for the District 7 seat: retired journalist Alan Cohn and Morris Lopez III.
At 18, Alonzo got involved in politics, working as a voter registrar after recognizing how valuable the election process is through her parents’ struggles living under a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.
“As a child of immigrants, the value of voting is never something we’re not aware of,” Alonzo told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “It is something that is plugged into us very early on. My parents lived through a partial dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and then came to this country, and so did my grandparents. So we truly understand what that looks like and the value of the vote.”
This appreciation for democracy and advocating for underserved communities extends to her potential role leading District 7, explains Alonzo.
“I think that the first thing is to look at those disparities and where the budget of District Seven is going,” said the current health care access director. “I’m not saying take it from Paul to help Mary, but see how we have a better distribution of that.”
“If we look at the USF area, there’s still some of those issues and concerns there,” Alonzo continued. “So I think my first thing is not only to start looking at those disparities, is then also talking to the community, which I’m already doing, to see where those challenges and needs are.”
As a whole, Tampa has a median household income average of $75,475, according to U.S Census data, but parts of District 7 are well above and below this number.
For example, New Tampa’s median income is just over $105,000, while University Square and Terrace Park have median household incomes just slightly over $41,000, according to SimpleMaps.
“I can look across the city of Tampa and see the same disparities based on the pockets that are the most impacted, said Alonzo. “And we can look at District 5 and see the same thing. So how do we make that more systemic, where every part of the city is getting access? Because one of the things we hear in the community is, ‘Oh, why did such and such community get this, and we didn’t?’ and we want to be able to have a good way of showing the growth or the favorable impact in this community with the appropriation of funding.”
Another key part of Alonzo’s platform is transportation, specifically bringing back an initiative for a full year of fare-free bus rides as city council did in 2025.
“I think championing something like that [one year free bus line] would be a great way to help within those communities,” Alonzo said. “Will it take work? Most definitely. But I’ve never shied away from a good fight, whether it’s from the professional side, the personal, or when you’re trying to help somebody. So I think that that’s definitely some of the things we can do in the community to start.”
Amongst other economical concerns, Alonzo worries about the prospect of Amendment 3 passing in November, which would raise the homestead exemption tax from $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 decreasing local municipality budgets.
“The issue [with Amendment 3] is it will take off the top from the city budget between $35 and $40 million immediately, and we’re talking about up to $60 million potentially year over year,” Alonzo said. “That pays for our municipality’s needs for our roads, infrastructure, police and fire; I mean, a myriad of things.”
Tampa City Council recently green lit its $80 million portion of the entire County’s contribution of nearly $800 million to build the Rays Stadium, Alonzo says Tampa residents are concerned with what Amendment 3 will ultimately look like.
“I think many residents felt that the decision for them was rushed, particularly with Amendment Three that’s looming out there and is a big concern for our city and for our state,” Alonzo said. “I think that when people were looking, based on the conversations I was having, at the size of the investment of the stadium and what it can mean for taxpayers.”
Alonzo, a baseball fan herself, said her vote from the dais would’ve been complicated.
“I don’t think it’s a simple yes or no answer to that without having gone through the same process as our city councilmen and women did, where they had access to all of the information that our council had before the vote,” Alonzo said. “To be able to dissect it and walk it through, and have the one-on-one conversations with the Rays leadership, the mayor, everyone that was involved in these decisions. But I can say that I would have asked really difficult questions.”
I think now the big responsibility lies on [city] council to be good stewards and our county commission to be good stewards of the outcome of this decision,” continued Alonzo, “and really work with the Rays and our upcoming mayor, whoever that may be, in making sure that this deal goes the way it was approved to.”
Alonzo is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Equiti Health, a medical technology company that helps underserved communities with language access barriers receive medical services. Back in 2024, she took a run for District 2 County Commission, but lost to Ken Hagan.
Tampa City Council’s District 7 seat is currently occupied by third-term councilman Luis Viera, who is resigning to run for Florida State House. He steps down on Nov. 2, and the city council will have to appoint a replacement to serve the rest of his term. Tampa’s municipal election is in March.
Currently, Lopez leads in campaign financing with nearly $29,000, while Cohn is earning nearly $14,000 and Alonzo has zero campaign donations so far.
Tampa’s upcoming municipal election ends on Tuesday, March 2, 2027; early voting days are still to be determined. The deadline to register to vote is Feb. 1, 2027.
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This article appears in September 10 – 16, 2026.
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