Bob Buckhorn swears he’s entering the race to succeed term-limited Jane Castor (just six candidates are registered in the race so far). 

Winning that contest is going to involve cash—and the man who’s already had two terms as mayor has a lot of it.

To support the campaign, Buckhorn’s political action committee, Friends of Bob Buckhorn, is equipped with more than $1.4 million in contributions. And if money talks, then it appears that investors and developers are Buckhorn’s best friends.

According to a Tampa Monitor analysis of campaign finance data, donations connected to construction, development, and real estate total $404,200—or 28% of total PAC contributions.

Contributions from people and entities connected to finance and investment total $460,250—or 32% of PAC donations.

Tampa’s outgoing mayor, Jane Castor, was Buckhorn’s choice for police chief and endorsed by her predecessor. She also benefited from a PAC funded primarily by development interests.

Buckhorn told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay he appreciates his PAC contributions. Developers and investors, as he sees it, helped make Tampa an attractive destination for talent. Further development is how the city continues to lure in young talent, he argued.

Buckhorn said that Tampa was once a “donor city,” from which its “best and brightest” youth moved. Developing Tampa after the recession, he claims, reversed that migration pattern. 

But it did create an affordability problem. A study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that Florida renters would have to make at least $37.27/hour to afford a two-bedroom rental home.

Buckhorn has previously told CL that affordability will be a hallmark of the race to be Tampa’s next mayor. And while development has not always made the city more affordable, Buckhorn added that he “would much rather preside over a growing city than a dying city.”

“It would be tragic if, after all of that work to build this city to the place where this is where they want to be, they are priced out of the market,” Buckhorn said. “So, absolutely, it is a priority.”

And there are donors who are willing to satisfy Buckhorn’s priorities (see the PAC donation analysis below).

Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties LLC (TBEP) is the biggest donor to Buckhorn’s PAC. The company, founded in 2017 by Benchmark International Arena and former Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, has donated $100,000. TBEP operates Benchmark, along with the Yuengling Center at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus.

Vinik Sports Group is also partnering with Strategic Property Partners (SPP)  to manage a venue it’ll hope to build in 2027, just across the street from Benchmark International Arena. 

Buckhorn said he’s proud to have the partnership and support of Vinik, a billionaire who oversaw the development of Water Street Tampa. Despite critics calling projects like Water Street “vanity projects,” Buckhorn stands by the success and benefits that came from those investments. 

Revisiting the downtown CRA’s commitment to spend $50 million reimbursing Water Street Tampa’s developer, Buckhorn referenced estimates saying that between $3-$4 billion has been spent on the project so far, adding, “So as far as I’m concerned, that’s a pretty damn good investment.”

“When people criticize city government or criticize me for investing in providing the seed money for projects like this, I will tell them in no uncertain terms, ‘Hell yeah,’ and I would do it again—10 times over every day of the week—because of what it brought to this community,” Buckhorn said. 

Vinik isn’t the only one looking to play ball.

Dream Finders Homes LLC, owned by Rays owner Patrick Zalupski, donated $50,000 to Buckhorn’s PAC. In a proposal for a new stadium at Hillsborough College in Tampa. Team owners said they will only pay half.

Buckhorn has presided over past Tampa stadium talks with the Rays’ last owners, and told CL he’s certain that the deal will be finalized before the next mayor begins their tenure. 

Buckhorn admitted not knowing every nuance of the conversations around the new deal. But he believes the remaining cost will primarily have to be addressed by the county, especially since Collective Investment Trust funds are limited in where they go to and the county has more resources and methods it can use. 

“I will honor whatever agreement that is struck between the Rays and certainly the city, and then work my hardest to make sure it’s successful,” Buckhorn said. 

Ballpark builders aren’t the only ones pitching in to get Buckhorn elected. Real estate enters the mix with contributions from Related Group, a Miami-based real estate development company. 

Three employees from the company contributed to the PAC. Managing Director Kurt Drvstvnensek, Vice President Christopher Hernandez and Senior Vice President Arturo Pena each donated $100 to Friends of Bob Buckhorn. 

Individual contributors can only donate up to $1,000—up to $100 if in cash, and up to $50 if they remain anonymous. To bypass these limits, contributors can donate another $1,000 through their business. Related Group gave $1,000 to the PAC, according to campaign finance data.

Buckhorn said Related Group has done great work in the area—and he hopes it does more. As for its influence and position in the city’s development interests, Buckhorn said that most of its processes and plans are public and transparent.

“It’s incumbent upon the bidder to put the best feel forward for the city, just like I did for the eight years when I was the mayor before; there is a process in place,” Buckhorn said. “There is no favoritism, and the numbers in the proposal speak for themselves.”

Prominent individuals have also spoken up about Buckhorn’s imminent candidacy—with money and their mouths.

Developer and investor Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., who was convicted of fraud in a sports gambling scandal back in the ‘90s and later pardoned by Trump, donated $30,000 to Buckhorn’s PAC last November. DeBartolo is also the father-in-law of Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.

Blake Casper, Caspers Company co-owner and CEO, also donated $25,000 to Buckhorn’s PAC. Casper was formerly backed by Buckhorn in the 2023 general election for the Tampa City Council District 4 seat against Councilman Bill Carlson. 

Casper’s last-minute entry into the one-man race left many speculating whether Mayor Castor aimed to back a candidate against Carlson, who has been an opponent of Mayor Castor’s development agenda throughout her tenure. 

Carlson himself is slated to join the race. He told CL that he’ll be rolling out his plan in the coming months—and that in the meantime, people are asking for him to join the race as a change candidate.

Carlson added that other electoral races have shown how “raising a lot of money, especially from developers, is a negative, not a positive,” and that Buckhorn’s PAC is no exception.

Carlson pointed out that other council members, like District 3’s Lynn Hurtak and District 1’s Alan Clendenin, have won elections against candidates endorsed by Castor, despite funding deficits. 

“The pattern is that the grassroots, the community, wants change,” Carlson told CL. “They don’t want the same shortsighted mentality in political bullying that’s been going on for the last 15 years.” 

“They’re tired of potholes and money that’s spent in the wrong ways and the bullying of the community, divisiveness,” Carlson continued. “They want a positive vision for the community, and they want somebody who’s a consensus builder, who will bring the community together toward the goals of the community.”

Buckhorn told CL that this isn’t his first rodeo and he doesn’t care who’s going to run against him; he’ll just run his race. 

“That one particular individual has a long history of saying bizarre and conspiratorial things,” Buckhorn said. “I don’t pay any attention to him or the things he says.”

If anything, Buckhorn is most confident in what past voter outcomes say about his potential. 

“Folks elected me twice. They re-elected me in 2015 with 95% of the vote, so they know me, and they know what I can do because of what I’ve done,” Buckhorn said.

This story first appeared at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, and republished as part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com.