Jane Castor (born December 7, 1960) is an American politician and former police chief serving as the 59th mayor of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. She was the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as Chief of Police of the Tampa Police Department from 2009 to 2015 and the first openly gay person to be elected Mayor of Tampa.

Early life and education

Castor attended Chamberlain High School in Tampa and graduated in 1977. Castor attended the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

, where she played volleyball and basketball while earning a degree in criminology. Castor was inducted into the University of Tampa's Athletic Hall of Fame following her record-breaking performance on the women's basketball and volleyball teams. She graduated in 1981. She got her Master of Public Administration from

Troy State University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

by attending classes at

MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

. She also attended the

FBI National Academy The FBI National Academy is a program of the FBI Academy for active U.S. law enforcement personnel and also for international law enforcement personnel who seek to enhance their credentials in their field and to raise law enforcement standards, kn ...

Police chief

Upon graduating from University of Tampa, Castor joined the Tampa Police Department, where she served 31 years in 1984, when she was 24. She became assistant chief in 2005. She was appointed as chief in 2009 and served until her retirement in 2015. Her tenure included a controversy over the targeting of African American cyclists for stops, searches, and tickets. A

no-knock search warrant In the United States, a no-knock warrant is a warrant issued by a judge that allows law enforcement to enter a property without immediate prior notification of the residents, such as by knocking or ringing a doorbell. In most cases, law enforceme ...

based on bad intel from a criminal informant resulted in the killing of Jason Westcott in 2014.

Mayor

In 2016 it was speculated that Castor would be a mayoral candidate in Tampa. Finally in April 2018, she officially announced her candidacy. In the

2019 Tampa mayoral election An election for Mayor of Tampa was held on March 5, 2019. The election is officially nonpartisan, and the winner is elected to a four-year term. Incumbent mayor Bob Buckhorn is not eligible to run for a third term. Buckhorn was first elected in ...

, held on March 5, 2019, Castor led all candidates, garnering 48.0% of the vote. In the runoff election held on April 23, she defeated David Straz with 73% of the vote compared to Straz's 27%. She is the city's first openly lesbian mayor. She is the eighth openly gay mayor in Florida. In 2019, Castor announced that her salary will be in

Bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public di ...

. Castor was a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

until 2015 when she became a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

References

External links

* at City of Tampa, Florida * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castor, Jane 1960s births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women police officers Chiefs of the Tampa Police Department George D. Chamberlain High School alumni Florida Democrats Lesbian police officers Lesbian politicians LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT people from Florida Living people Mayors of Tampa, Florida University of Tampa alumni Women mayors of places in Florida Florida Republicans LGBT police officers from the United States