CLEARWATER, Fla. — Attorney Bruce Rector easily defeated city council member Kathleen Beckman in the race for Clearwater mayor, unofficial results show.
Rector won 63% of the vote in the two-way race for mayor with all precincts reporting.
10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo spoke to Rector at his victory party. The attorney said he was excited for the opportunity to lead the city.
"I want to start tomorrow even before I'm sworn in to build community and to build a team. And that's not just in Clearwater but throughout the Tampa Bay region. I'm going to reach out to Mayor Castor and Mayor Welch to talk about things we can do regionally to have the whole region succeed not just Clearwater," Rector said.
The attorney ran against council member Kathleen Beckman. Both candidates raised 6 figures in donations, but Beckman fell short getting 8,473 votes to Rector's 14,217.
Now, Rector will focus on the city's affordability and revitalization while bridging the community with other cities.
"Whether you voted for me or not, we're one community and we're going to build our effort going forward as one. We may disagree on certain issues, but at the end of the day, we need to agree that we all want this community to be better, better place to live, better place to work, better place to play," Rector said.
Heading into Tuesday's matchup, he spoke last week with 10 Tampa Bay's Aaron Parseghian and told him the No. 1 issue facing the city is taxes and "keeping taxes low."
"...It's the most important thing to most residents here right now. It is helping them, helping them get by each day, by keeping their taxes low, making sure we're working on government spending that's efficient and serves them best," Rector said.
On the topic of Scientology, which has a large footprint in the downtown area, Rector said work will be done to attract private and public investments to find a balance between the church's influence and public interest.
"The residents I speak with throughout Clearwater tell me they just want to see a balance within our downtown area. They understand that Scientology has been here for a long time, and will continue to have a presence here," Rector said.
In a statement after polls closed, Beckman thanked Clearwater residents and her supporters:
"I cannot thank enough the many people that supported me during my candidacy and while serving as Councilmember. I am humbled by their faith in me and their generosity. It has been a true privilege to serve the residents of Clearwater the last 4 years."
Although Clearwater races are officially nonpartisan, Republican-backed candidates swept the city's election. Lealman Fire Captain Ryan Cotton defeated incumbent Mark Bunker in a three-way race for city council Seat 2, and small business owner Mike Mannino defeated two opponents for Seat 3. Beckman vacated Seat 3 to run for mayor.
Rector also was endorsed by the Pinellas GOP.
Clearwater voters also OKed a change to the city charter to replace single winner-take-all elections with a runoff system. It would begin in 2026.