Bruce Rector victorious in heated race for Clearwater mayor

Significant conservative turnout in Tuesday’s election helped GOP-backed candidates unseat two City Council members in Clearwater’s nonpartisan races.

Lawyer Bruce Rector defeated City Council member Kathleen Beckman in the race for mayor following an expensive and negative campaign. He won 63% of the vote with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results.

And in the three-way race for Seat 2, Lealman Fire Capt. Ryan Cotton had 42% of the vote, unseating council member and prominent Church of Scientology critic Mark Bunker.

For the open Seat 3, which Beckman vacated to run for mayor, voters elected small-business owner Mike Mannino over two opponents with 63% of the vote.

In addition to the council upset, residents also voted to change the city charter by replacing the single winner-take-all elections with a runoff system. The ballot question asking whether to move the regular March elections in even numbered years to August and create runoffs in November of even years passed with 64% of the vote. The change will take effect in 2026.

“I just worked really hard to connect with the citizens of Clearwater and I just think it reflects the better connection I had with them,” Rector said. “I was just able to listen to people and understand what they are concerned about, and they responded to my message a lot better.”

With no Democratic presidential primary on the ballot, three-quarters of the turnout in Pinellas County was Republican as conservatives showed up to vote for Donald Trump in their party’s primary.

A party breakdown of Clearwater-specific turnout was not available from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections on Wednesday. But Beckman said the conservative showing coupled with an aggressive campaign deployed against her factored into her race.

”Republicans had every advantage with a Republican presidential ticket, with more Republicans registered in our city and with full court press of spending on very partisan mailers that they turned out,” Beckman said.

During her first term on council, Beckman became known for extensive resident engagement. Her platform for mayor focused on neighborhood empowerment, strengthening small businesses, environmental resiliency and lowering city costs.

But on social media, in mailers and public appearances, Rector pummeled Beckman’s record, primarily by repeating that she “supported spending $90 million on a new City Hall.” Beckman called it a gross misrepresentation of the brainstorming process for a project now in design for a third of that cost.

During a council workshop in March 2023, city staff estimated a joint City Hall and municipal services building could cost $90 million. Then-Mayor Frank Hibbard resigned from office in frustration during the meeting after his four colleagues, including Beckman, agreed the project should be a priority. But months later, the council settled on a standalone City Hall instead that is projected to cost $31.5 million.

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Rector also had help from a Republican political committee funded with $34,100 from Pinellas County business and development interests, which sent at least three attack mailers painting Beckman as a wasteful spender.

And during a council meeting in January, Mayor Brian Aungst Sr., who was appointed to finish the last year of Hibbard’s term, accused Beckman of electioneering on council time by using city staff to send letters to beach residents about flooding. Records show Beckman used Democratic campaign software to pull the names and addresses, but she denies the letters were improper.

Hibbard filed a state elections complaint against Beckman for the letters, and attended a council meeting in February to announce it. The Rector campaign also sent letters written by Hibbard to homes listing reasons residents shouldn’t vote for Beckman.

Clearwater “plays a pivotal role in the entire region, so we knew it was going to be tough from the beginning,” Rector said. “Just like my opponent, it doesn’t sit well with me when people say things about me I don’t like, but that’s part of campaigning hard today.”

Rector raised $138,843 through March 14, more than a third of which came from political committees and businesses, according to financial filings. Much of Beckman’s campaign was self-funded but almost all of her outside donations came from individuals. She raised $151,000 in cash and in-kind donations — $63,211 from her own pockets.

In Clearwater’s city manager form of government, the mayor is one of five votes with no more power than the other council members. But the mayor runs meetings and largely sets the tone of the council’s discussions.

In the race for Seat 2, Bunker was backed by the Clearwater police and fire unions as well as the Pinellas Democratic Party. He touted his efforts to talk publicly and frequently about Scientology’s control of vast amounts of real estate downtown, a topic largely avoided on the dais before Bunker was elected in 2020.

But Cotton had the backing of the Pinellas GOP, which ran an aggressive effort to get its voters to the polls. Cotton ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. He is also the son-in-law of sitting council member David Allbritton.

Bunker earned 39% of the vote, and marketing executive Mike Mastruserio finished with 18%.

“Citizens are looking for a change and we saw that resoundingly,” Cotton said Wednesday. “The message of limited government, fiscal responsibility, making sure we’re taking care of critical infrastructure … resonated.”

Bunker said it was an honor to have served Clearwater residents. But with the outcome, he said the council lost the one member willing to speak candidly about Scientology’s actions downtown.

“Now no one on the council is going to talk about Scientology, no one is going to do anything about it,” Bunker said.

Mannino won Seat 3 after his campaign focused on balancing quality of life in Clearwater with the tourism industry. Clearwater neighborhoods coordinator Javante Scott won 24% of votes in the race and freelance journalist Jared Leone finished with 13%.

Both of his opponents pushed back on Mannino as a member of the political establishment that they said have historically ignored the needs of portions of the community.

But Mannino said his range of endorsements, from the chamber of commerce to the police and fire employee unions, showed the relationships he’s built through community work. Mannino owns an athletic event company and first ran for office in 2020, losing Seat 2 to Bunker.

“We really worked a long time in Clearwater serving our community and serving the residents,” Mannino said. “Clearwater spoke today and we’re excited to get to work, roll up our sleeves and serve the citizens.”

The passage of the referendum to create runoffs also marks a drastic change to the way elections will operate in the city.

Aungst pushed for the referendum to appear on the ballot, saying candidates should be elected with a mandate and runoffs will ensure candidates win with at least 50% of votes. Under the current plurality system, the candidate with the most votes in a race wins. Bunker won his five-way race in 2020 with 27%, which initiated discussions from the dais about changing the system.

No political committee or organized effort emerged to push for the referendum this year, but voters still favored the change.

“I believe it’s a more fair way of doing things to get (elected with) 50%” resident Tina Peters, 60, said after casting her ballot at the Polish Center. “And I don’t believe that’s a party thing.”