1975 Tampa mayoral election

1975 Tampa mayoral election

←  1974 (special) September 2, 1975 1979  →

Candidate Bill Poe Joe Kotvas Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 30,281 19,081 Percentage 61.34% 38.66%

Mayor before election Bill Poe Nonpartisan Elected mayor Bill Poe Nonpartisan

The 1975 Tampa mayoral election was held on September 2, 1975. Incumbent Mayor Bill Poe, who was first elected in a 1974 special election, ran for re-election to a full term. He was challenged by his opponent from the 1974 election, former City Councilmember Joe Kotvas. While Poe only narrowly defeated Kotvas in 1974, he won the rematch in a landslide, receiving 61 percent of the vote to Kotvas's 39 percent.

Candidates

• Bill Poe, incumbent Mayor
• Joe Kotvas, former City Councilmember, 1974 candidate for Mayor ^[1]

Results

1975 Tampa mayoral election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Bill Poe (inc.)	30,281	61.34%
	Nonpartisan	Joe Kotvas	19,081	38.66%
Total votes			49,362	100.00%

References

1. Allen, Richard (May 8, 1975). "Kotvas To Run Again For Mayor Of Tampa". The Tampa Tribune . Tampa, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
2. "9/2/1975". Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2025.