Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

, held a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on March 17, 2020, to elect a mayor and two members of the city council (seat 2 and 3). These elections coincided with the Democratic and Republican presidential preference primaries.

Background

The Clearwater City Council consists of a mayor and four council members, who each serve four-year terms. Incumbent mayor George Cretekos, who was first elected in 2012 and re-elected unopposed in 2016, was ineligible to run for re-election to a third consecutive term. City council elections were held for seat 2 (held by Jay Polglaze) and seat 3 (held by Bob Cundiff). Issues raised throughout these elections included the proposal of a new

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

downtown, diversity in city government,

rights of nature Rights of nature or Earth rights is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights. The rights of nature concept challenges twentie ...

, and Scientology. The

COVID-19 pandemic in Florida On March 1, 2020, the U.S. state of Florida officially reported its first two COVID-19 cases, in Manatee County, Florida, Manatee and Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough counties. On April 1 Governor of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis de ...

began two weeks before the elections, which raised concerns for the safety of in-person voters and poll workers.

Mayor

Candidates

* Elizabeth "Sea Turtle" Drayer, retired attorney and former

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

employee * Frank Hibbard, former two-term Clearwater mayor (2005-2012) * Bill Jonson, former four-term Clearwater city councilmember (2001-2007, 2010–2018) * Morton Myers, multiple small business owner, Clearwater native

Endorsements

Fundraising

Upon the launch of her campaign, Drayer pledged not to accept any money contributions, saying "The sea turtle cannot be bought." She led the first campaign fundraising numbers between September 19 to September 30, with a $20,000 personal check from herself; Hibbard raised $19,950 (including $1,000 of his own money); Jonson raised $6,370.20, including a $5,000 personal loan and a $20.20 cash contribution; and Myers did not report any fundraising numbers, as he filed to run after the first fundraising report deadline. It was subsequently reported that Myers had raised $2,100 (all from himself via a personal loan) before November. Hibbard and Jonson, the two former officeholders in the race, were the only candidates who raised money in November, earning $8,926 and $6,785 respectively; this raised Hibbard's total to $100,419 and Jonson's total to $20,475.40. As of a January article from ''Tampa Bay Times'', Hibbard reportedly raised $110,469 total, while Jonson raised $25,340 total. Drayer and Myers, the two non-politicians in the race, continued to self-fund their campaigns, with earned totals of $20,000 and $3,100 respectively (the former's total remaining the same since September). As of January, Hibbard had earned 25% of his donations from businesses, compared to Jonson's 9%; however Jonson led Hibbard in individual donations from Clearwater residents. Hibbard has earned donations from powerful political and wealthy figures such as

Florida State Senator The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopte ...

Ed Hooper William Edward (Ed) Hooper (born March 10, 1964) is an author, film producer and columnist from Knoxville, Tennessee. He is most widely known for his work in military affairs reporting and his coverage of historic preservation and U.S. veteran ...

DEX Imaging DEX Imaging is a document imaging dealer based in Tampa, Florida. It operates in printers, copiers, and scanners, as well as document software. Growth DEX was founded in 2002, with CEO Dan Doyle Jr. and his father. In 2013, DEX acquired U.S. I ...

CEO Daniel Doyle Jr., and political action committees associated with Jack and

Chris Latvala Christopher John Latvala (born December 29, 1981) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives. He represents the 67th District, which includes Clearwater and Largo in northern Pinellas County. He has ...

Results

City council elections

Seat 2

Incumbent councilmember Jay Polglaze declined to run for a new term.

Candidates

* Mark Bunker, filmmaker and critic of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

* Michael "Mike" Mannino, small business owner and local soccer coach * Bruce Rector, attorney, author and businessman * Eliseo Santana Jr.,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

veteran and retired

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Pinellas is the name of a peninsula located roughly halfway down the west coast of Florida. It forms the western boundary of Tampa Bay and comprises the bulk of Pinellas County. There is a city named Pinellas Park in south Pinellas. The peninsula i ...

tech worker * Lina Teixeira, small business owner and fashion designer

Endorsements

Results

Seat 3

Candidates

* Kathleen Beckman, retired teacher * Robert "Dr. Bob" Cundiff, incumbent Clearwater city councilmember (since 2016) * Bud Elias, small business owner * Scott R. Thomas, former two-term

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of th ...

school board member and human resources director

Endorsements

Results

References

Notes

Citations

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

Clearwater municipal

Clearwater 2020 Elections 2020 Clearwater 2020 Clearwater municipal elections

Background

Mayor

Candidates

Endorsements

Fundraising

Results

City council elections

Seat 2

Candidates

Endorsements

Results

Seat 3

Candidates

Endorsements

Results

References

Notes

Citations

External links