Tampa’s Tiger Bay Club on Friday hosted a forum that was meant to cover all three of Hillsborough County’s newly redrawn congressional seats: Districts 12, 14 and 15.
But the stars of the show were Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and her GOP challenger Mike Beltran, who are running for Congressional District 14.
District 14, long a solid blue seat, is now red-leaning after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting effort this spring. Castor’s fight for reelection in a new district that favored President Donald Trump by 10 points is expected to be one of the country’s most competitive.
Beltran and Castor frequently talked over each other and asked the moderator for chances for rebuttal. “My opponent” was a common refrain in their responses. One part of the politically mixed audience cheered and whooped for Beltran, then another group cheered for Castor.
Beltran was the only Republican to take the stage with three Democrats: Castor, District 12 candidate Kimberly Overman and District 15 candidate Robert People. GOP Reps. Gus Bilirakis of District 12 and Laurel Lee of District 15, who are expected to win reelection, skipped the event.
Redistricting sorted Hillsborough County into three districts, all of them red-leaning. Tampa Bay’s congressional incumbents decided to run for the districts they currently serve.
Here are three takeaways from the candidate forum.
Starting with a culture wars question
The first audience question poked a political hornet’s nest. One person asked whether transgender women should be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Castor’s response was pithy — and perhaps surprising.
“The answer is no,” she said, before passing the microphone to Beltran.
Beltran agreed with Castor, but his response elicited more claps.
Castor’s response demonstrates the political reality she faces. She must avoid alienating Republicans and no-party-affiliated voters who side with the GOP on this issue. But her response risks turning off many Democrats who think Republicans are overblowing the issue and targeting a vulnerable minority.
The liberal-leaning voters in the room offered more applause to an answer from People, the District 15 candidate.
“What we don’t want to do … is put so much more of an emphasis on something that’s really not an issue,” he said. “Of course, this is not to be insensitive to women in sports, but let’s not pretend that people are losing sleep over this.”
Money in the race
Castor and Beltran took shots at each other over campaign finance.
Castor accused Beltran of taking money from insurance and utility companies and giving them big breaks in return. She was referring in part to a bill Beltran backed while in the state Legislature that set up a $1 billion state fund for property insurers, an effort to keep companies writing policies in the state after Hurricane Ian.
“Go ask any insurance lobbyist in Tallahassee,“ Beltran said. ”Which Republican was the biggest pain in their neck in Tallahassee? It was me. I voted against insurance companies more than anyone else in my party.”
Beltran said that his fundraising while serving as a state legislator pales in comparison to what Castor raises from political action committees in a quarter. Both candidates have benefited from millions in outside spending in this tight race.
Wading into local issues
The candidates had plenty to say about a much more local issue: mass transit in Tampa Bay.
Castor and Overman, the former Hillsborough commissioner now running in District 12, harkened back to the All for Transportation referendum, a sales surtax that Hillsborough County voters approved in 2018. It would have funded public transit projects as well as road projects, but the tax was struck down by the courts in 2021.
Much of the money collected went back to residents as a tax refund last year, something Beltran championed. Transit advocates have argued the $570 million should have gone toward transportation.
Beltran cast skepticism on mass transit in Hillsborough.
“I don’t want to risk your taxpayer dollars on a program that may not work,” he said.
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