It’ll be Jim Davison vs. Luis Viera in Tampa City Council District 7 run-off

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Emergency room physician Jim Davison received the plurality of votes in the Tampa City Council District 7 special election on Tuesday, ย but not nearly enough to win the race outright. He will face attorney Luis Viera in a run-off election, with the date yet to be established.

Davison, the only Republican in the race, finished with 31 percent of the vote. Viera came in second with 22 percent.

Avis Harrison came in third with 16 percent. Retired Tampa Police officer Orlando Gudes was fourth with 14 percent. Dr. Cyril Spiro was fifth with 12 percent, and La Gaceta editor Gene Siudut was sixth with 4 percent.

Although Davison received the most votes, it doesn’t mean he’s got the run-off in the bag.

In 2015, Republican Jackie Toledo faced Democrat Guido Maniscalco in a run-off election, after Toledo narrowly finished shy of the 50 percent needed to win the race outright. Maniscalco ended up beating Toledo in the runoff.

In 2011, ob BuckhorBn finished second to Rose Ferlita in the race for Tampa Mayor. Three weeks later, he defeated Ferlita by more than 25 percentage points.

 

Mitch Perry has been a reporter with Extensive Enterprises since November of 2014. Previously, he served as five years as the political editor of the alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. He also was the assistant news director with WMNF 88.5 FM in Tampa from 2000-2009, and currently hosts MidPoint, a weekly talk show, on WMNF on Thursday afternoons. He began his reporting career at KPFA radio in Berkeley. He's a San Francisco native who has now lived in Tampa for 15 years and can be reached at [email protected].