Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn speaking to reporters in Tampa after filing on April 13, 2026, to run for mayor in 2027. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
TAMPA — Saying he wants to build a city that “is the envy of the nation,” former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn filed paperwork Monday to become a candidate to return to lead City Hall.
“This city’s best days are yet to come,” he told a group of reporters standing in front of the Hillsborough County Center in downtown Tampa.
“We can fix those challenges. We can fill those potholes. We can pave those streets. We can invest in that infrastructure,” he said.
He added: “That’s not why people hire mayors. That’s not why I’m running for office. I’m running to build a city that is the envy of the nation. To continue down the path that we set out on 10 years ago. We’ve proven we can do it. I’ve already done it. And now it’s time to write our next chapter.”
Buckhorn previously served as mayor of Florida’s third largest city from 2011 to 2019. Speculation began during his first term in office that he was a potential Democratic candidate for governor. Those rumors grew louder after he formed a political action committee and then won re-election in 2015 with nearly 96% of the vote.
But in March 2017, he announced he would not run for governor.
A political committee supporting Buckhorn has already raised $1.8 million, dwarfing the funding of the other nine candidates who have already filed to run for mayor. That’s not including City Councilman Bill Carlson, who is expected to enter the race.
Buckhorn said that, if elected, he’ll work on the region’s transportation problems, saying that he fears that without changes the city could encounter traffic jams regularly seen in places like Miami and Atlanta.
He said he believed the issue had been addressed to a certain extent when Hillsborough County voters in 2018 approved a one-cent sales tax over 30 years that was designed to improve roads and bridges, expand public transportation options, and make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
But in 2021, the Florida Supreme Court declared the tax unconstitutional.
“We have to go back and pass that referendum again to give us the dedicated revenue source to do big, big projects,” Buckhorn said.
The Tampa mayoral election is slated to take place on March 2, 2027.