Castor's Re-Election Called Victory For LGBTQ+ Community Across U.S.

TAMPA, FL — Just 26 minutes after the polls closed for the Tampa municipal elections at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute in Washington, D.C., sent out a statement congratulating Jane Castor on her re-election as mayor of Tampa.

Castor won a second term with 80.14 percent, or 22,974 votes. Of those, 7,767 were cast on election day, 4,767 were cast during early voting and 10,309 votes came from vote-by-mail ballots.

Write-in candidate Belinda Noah received 19.86 percent, or 5,693 votes.

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Annise Parker, the first openly LGBTQ mayor of a major American city after being elected mayor of Houston, Texas, in 2010, now serves as president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.

She called Castor's re-election not only a victory for the city of Tampa but for the LGBTQ + community across the country.

“It is clear the Tampa community is all-in for Jane — across all party lines," Parker said. "She has ushered in a new level of prosperity and equity for the city by delivering real results and passing smart policies for the community she loves. With anti-LGBTQ hate spreading like wildfire in Florida, Jane has consistently fought back. We are confident Jane will continue making Tampa a bastion for LGBTQ+ rights and equality in the state.”

Castor made history in 2019 when she became the first openly gay mayor of Tampa.

A lifelong Tampa resident, Castor is the mother of two grown sons and lives in Seminole with her longtime partner, lobbyist Ana Cruz. She spent 31 years with the Tampa Police Department, becoming Tampa's first woman chief of police in 2009.

Castor is one of just 14 LGBTQ+ women mayors in the U.S., according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.

When she was elected four years ago, Castor joined an elite group that included out lesbians Melanie Hammett, mayor of Pine Lake, Georgia, elected in 2016; Liz Ordiales, mayor of Hiawassee, Georgia, elected in 2017; Teri Johnston, mayor of Key West, elected in 2018; Darby Ayers-Flood, mayor of Talent, Oregon, elected in 2015; Lisa Middleton, mayor of Palm Springs, California, elected in 2017; Guyleen Castriotta, mayor of Broomfield, Colorado, elected in 2017; and Cindy Smith, mayor of Linn Valley, Kansas, elected in 2018.

The same year Castor became Tampa's mayor, lesbians Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, Illinois, and Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, were elected.

Since then, lesbians Tamie Kaufman, mayor of Gold Beach, Oregon, was elected in 2020; Cozy Bailey, mayor of St. Clair, Missouri, was elected in 2021; Franny Dicicco, mayor of Folcroft, Pennsylvania, was elected in 2022; and Manuela Paloma Aguirre, who is bisexual, was elected mayor of Imperial Beach, California, in 2022.

The Victory Institute was founded in 1993 by LGBTQ advocates and donors who recognized the need to prepare LGBTQ people to run for office nationwide. At that time, there were less than 50 openly LGBTQ elected officials across America.

Since then, the institute's Victory Fund has helped thousands of LGBTQ+ candidates win local, state and federal elections.