Tampa Mayoral Candidates Promise to Back Tampa Stadium*

The two candidates still standing in the race to be Tampa's next mayor both pledged this week to help find the Rays a new home on the "better" side of Tampa Bay.**
**if negotiations don't prove fruitful in St. Petersburg

With a close election expected on March 22, both Rose Ferlita and Bob Buckhorn are fighting tooth-and-nail over every available vote. That means the Rays fans' contingency too, as the two candidates suggested Monday how they could possibly help keep the team in Tampa Bay if St. Petersburg doesn't work.

Of course, a Tampa vs. St. Petersburg tug-of-war is just what the team needs to create the leverage to get a new stadium...but St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster told us today he's hoping the mayoral candidates start talking about helpful ways to cooperate with their friends across the bay, rather than talking about ways to compete with them.

Furthermore, Buckhorn needs to get his stadium facts straight, as a Truth Test fact-check shows he's making claims about stadium funding that are misleading, at best. To indicate Tampa (the 54th-largest city in the county) can put together stadium packages similar to that of a metropolis like New York City, San Francisco, or Dallas is pointless.