Jane Castor

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Jane Castor
Mayor Jane Castor -Tampa.jpeg
Castor in 2019
59th Mayor of Tampa
Assumed office
May 1, 2019
Preceded byBob Buckhorn
10th Chief of the Tampa Police Department
In office
2009–2015
PrecedingStephen Hogue
Succeeded byEric Ward
Personal details
Born (1960-12-07) December 7, 1960 (age 61)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		Republican (1978–2015)
Domestic partnerAna Cruz (2009–present)
Melanie Bevan (2002–2008)
Children2
ResidenceTampa, Florida, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Tampa (BS)
Troy University (MPA)

Jane Castor (born 7 December 1960) is an American politician and former police chief serving as the 59th mayor of Tampa, Florida. She was the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as Chief of Police of the Tampa Police Department from 2009 to 2015. Castor was a member of the Republican Party until 2015, when she became a member of the Democratic Party.

A lifelong resident of Tampa, Castor is the first openly gay person to be elected Mayor of Tampa and the eighth openly LGBT person to be elected mayor of a municipality in Florida.

Early life and education[]

Castor attended Chamberlain High School in Tampa and graduated in 1977.[1][2] Castor attended the University of Tampa, where she played volleyball and basketball while earning a degree in criminology. Castor was inducted into the University of Tampa's Athletic Hall of Fame following her record-breaking performance on the women's basketball and volleyball teams.[3] She graduated in 1981.[4] Upon graduating, Castor joined the Tampa Police Department, where she served 31 years and became the city's first female Chief of Police. In 2019, Castor was also elected the first openly gay mayor in Tampa. She got her Master of Public Administration from Troy State University by attending classes at MacDill Air Force Base. She also attended the FBI National Academy.[5][6][7]

Police chief[]

Jane Castor in 2012

Castor joined the Tampa Police Department in 1984, when she was 24.[8] She became assistant chief in 2005.[5] She was appointed as chief in 2009 and served until her retirement in 2015.[9][10][11][12][13] Her tenure included a controversy over the targeting of African American cyclists for stops, searches, and tickets.[14] A no-knock search warrant based on bad intel from a criminal informant resulted in the killing of Jason Westcott in 2014.[15][16]

Mayor[]

Castor speaking at the opening ceremonies of the 2019 Warrior Games

In 2016 it was speculated that Castor would be a mayoral candidate in Tampa.[17] Finally in April, 2018, she officially announced her candidacy.[18] In the 2019 Tampa mayoral election, held on March 5, 2019, Castor led all candidates, garnering 48.0% of the vote.[19] In the runoff election held on April 23, she defeated David Straz with 73% of the vote compared to Straz's 27%. She is the city's first openly lesbian mayor.[20][21] She is the eighth openly gay mayor in Florida after Richard A. Heyman of Key West, of Pahokee, of Broward County, Craig Lowe of Gainesville, Dean Trantalis of Fort Lauderdale, Teri Johnston of Key West, and of Wilton Manors.[22]

References[]

  1. ^ Taylor, Janelle Irwin. "Kathy Castor backs Jane Castor in Tampa mayoral race". floridapolitics.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Who is Jane Castor? Former police chief wants to be Tampa mayor". 10NEWS. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. ^ Johnston, Joey. "UT History Series: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor". Tampa Spartans. University of Tampa Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "UT Alumna Jane Castor Named Next Tampa Police Chief". University of Tampa. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Jane Castor". University of Tampa Athletics. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tampa's Finest: Jane Castor worked her way up the ranks to make PD history (Maddux Business Report)". By Bob Andelman. July 2, 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Troy University MPA". www.facebook.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  8. ^ Commerce, Greater Tampa Chamber of (January 19, 2017). "Leadership Tampa Alumni Honors Jane Castor with Parke Wright III Leadership Award". wordpress.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  9. ^ "Former Tampa police chief Jane Castor to run for mayor". WFLA Channel 8. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  10. ^ Lambertsen, Kristen. "Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor has last day on the job before retiring". WFLA Channel 8. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. ^ AP. "Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor retires after 31-year career". Gainesville.com. The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  12. ^ Bryson, Anna. "An interview with Tampa mayoral candidate Jane Castor". CL Tampa. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Chief Jane Castor looks back over 31 years with Tampa police". Bay News 9. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  14. ^ Holley, Peter. "In Florida, police are waging a war on black bicycle riders, investigators say". Retrieved January 28, 2021 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  15. ^ "Informer, not neighbor complaints, led up to fatal Tampa pot raid". Tampa Bay Times.
  16. ^ "Jane Castor defends her record as Tampa police chief". Tampa Bay Times.
  17. ^ "Carlton: Ex-top cop Jane Castor as Tampa's next mayor? It could happen". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  18. ^ "Former chief Jane Castor makes it official: She's in the race for Tampa mayor". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  19. ^ ABC Staff. "Election Results". ABC Action- Bay. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  20. ^ Wilson, Kirby. "Tampa mayor election: Jane Castor easily defeats David Straz in historic race". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  21. ^ Fitzsimons, Tim (April 23, 2019). "Tampa elects first out lesbian mayor, ex-police chief Jane Castor". NBC News. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  22. ^ Kate Sullivan. "Ex-police chief Jane Castor elected first LGBTQ mayor of Tampa, Florida". CNN. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Tampa
2019–present 		Incumbent
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