West Central Florida Labor backs Bill Carlson in Tampa Council election

TAMPA — Bill Carlson has received the endorsement of a powerful Central Florida labor council, a leader of the union told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday.

The decision was confirmed Wednesday morning by Brian Nathan, a union field organizer and political coordinator and a delegate to the West Central Florida Labor Council.

Carlson got the nod over Blake Casper, a Republican whose family owned McDonald’s franchises, for the council seat covering South Tampa. It is a closely watched race.

Carlson has drawn the ire of Mayor Jane Castor for his opposition to some of her policies. Casper’s kickoff last week was attended my former Mayor Bob Buckhorn and several notable Republicans, including Attorney General Ashley Moody, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Sheriff Chad Chronister.

The labor council announced its endorsements last month for the other five races on the March 7 ballot, backing Alan Clendenin, Guido Maniscalco, Lynn Hurtak, Orlando Gudes and Charlie Miranda. They also endorsed Luis Viera, who didn’t draw an opponent.

The endorsements have been issued jointly with the city’s labor union, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1464, according to that union’s business agent, Stephen Simon.

At the time that the AFL-CIO umbrella organization — which represents 160,000 working and retired union members in Central Florida — had finished interviewing candidates in early January, neither Carlson nor Casper had entered the race. Carlson, the Democratic incumbent, was first elected in 2019 to the nonpartisan City Council.