{"id":383057,"date":"2026-08-28T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383057\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T00:14:09","slug":"tampa-city-councilwoman-lynn-hurtak-says-she-has-breast-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383057\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak says she has breast cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ATampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak at Tampa City Hall in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 27, 2026. Credit: Screengrab by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay \/ City Of Tampa Meetings\/YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

It was another long day at Tampa City Hall today, as the community came together to discuss another proposal that uses public money to help build a stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.<\/p>\n

District 3 Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak, who is running in the Tampa mayoral election that wraps in March, has been the tip of the spear in the push against the stadium proposals presented so far\u2014even posting a five-minute opposition explainer yesterday<\/a>\u2014but she\u2019s about to start another battle next week.<\/p>\n

During new business of today\u2019s Tampa City Council meeting, Hurtak, 49, told councilmembers and the public that she\u2019s been diagnosed with breast cancer and will start treatment on Monday.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Hurtak told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that she was diagnosed this month and has been on a fast path to the 12-week treatment that kicks off Aug. 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctor found a lump on July 31,\u201d Hurtak said. \u201cI have been poked and prodded, and had tons of blood taken. MRIs, and EKGs, and PET scans, and biopsies, and all these words I didn\u2019t know before, but now do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that that treatment will not keep her from doing the work constituents citywide elected her to do, including taking crucial votes on the many issues that affect Tampe\u00f1os.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t let it stop me from doing the work for the people, and it won\u2019t stop me now. I\u2019m just gonna do what I do, and I have a great team around me,\u201d she added. \u201cI have a really positive attitude about it, and I\u2019m just gonna fight it the way I fight everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurtak told CL that her treatment will not affect the campaign for mayor, which she launched last February<\/a>, nearly a year ahead of Election Day in the Tampa Municipal Election set for March 2, 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is my chemo will be done before Thanksgiving,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m still going to be able to have conversations. I\u2019m still going to be able to do some Lynn Listens sessions. It will just simply depend on if I have to go get a mask or not, based on my doctor\u2019s directives.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the announcement, fellow councilmembers were understandably somber. Hurtak told CL that she\u2019s doing OK, as much as anyone who\u2019s just received the diagnosis can be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t really settled in yet. Maybe it will when I start my first chemo treatment,\u201d she told CL, adding that it\u2019s kind of a relief to finally share the news with the public. \u201cNow, it doesn\u2019t feel like I\u2019m doing it by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article appears in August 27 \u2013 September 02, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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