Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak has filed to run for mayor in the March 2, 2027 municipal election, according to the city’s campaign finance portal.
Her filing makes her the first sitting council member to enter the open-seat race more than a year before voting.
As of her initial report, Hurtak lists no monetary or in-kind contributions and no expenditures. The race remains in its early stage, with limited financial activity across the field.
Hurtak, who represents District 3 at large, was elected to city council in 2023 after first being appointed in 2022 to fill a vacancy.
Before taking office, she served on Tampa’s Variance Review Board and on the Charter Review Commission, which led to 18 amendments to the city charter approved by voters in 2019.
A Tampa native, Hurtak earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida.
She previously worked as a Title I elementary school teacher and union representative in Gainesville before transitioning to technical consulting work on U.S. aid programs in West Africa, focusing on food security, land tenure and federal compliance.
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In a recent appearance on the TBD Podcast hosted by Garrett Greco, Hurtak outlined her governing approach and policy priorities.
She described a philosophy centered on incremental infrastructure investment, transit reliability and close oversight of municipal budgets — priorities she has emphasized on council through transportation funding, stormwater projects and neighborhood-level improvements such as paving and sidewalks.
Following the 2024 hurricane season, Hurtak supported allocating city funds for storm recovery assistance and additional stormwater maintenance. She has also backed increased capital spending on drainage projects.
Some residents have pressed for faster timelines and broader geographic coverage for flood mitigation projects, reflecting ongoing debate about how quickly infrastructure investments can be delivered.
On land use and housing, Hurtak has generally supported adding density in targeted corridors. She has said housing supply and transit access are linked. Critics in some neighborhoods have pushed back on growth intensity and rezoning decisions.
The mayor’s office carries operational control over Tampa’s administrative structure, including department leadership, budget execution and capital planning.
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The next mayor will shape land use decisions, infrastructure spending and growth policy at a time when development pressure continues to accelerate across downtown, Ybor City and Westshore.
The role of the mayor differs from the council in that it carries direct executive authority over department leadership and policy implementation.
How candidates balance transit expansion, infrastructure upgrades, housing affordability and tax sensitivity is expected to define the race.
Several other candidates have filed for the mayor’s race, including Khadim R. Abdi, Anthony Gilbert Jr., Alan Jared Henderson, Julie Magill, Tres L. Rodmon and Reginald B. Strachan. Andrew Weitzman is listed as withdrawn.
Former Mayor Bob Buckhorn has not filed for the 2027 race. In a December interview with Florida Politics, he said he is “fully in game mode” and confirmed his political committee has raised more than $1 million as he prepares a comeback bid.
With more than a year before ballots are cast, fundraising, endorsements and coalition building will determine whether Hurtak’s early entry reshapes the field or simply marks the starting line.
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