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Politics

Odd man out's time to shine

Contrary to the past, Kathy Castor won't be alone in Washington.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published November 14, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Justin Cook]

Political fortunes can change overnight.

Just ask Kathy Castor - the new representative in congressional District 11, which covers parts of Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties.

Last Tuesday, Castor was stranded in a Republican-imposed purgatory on the Hillsborough County Commission. One of two Democrats on the seven-member board, Castor frequently found herself isolated, marginalized and on the losing end of 6-1 votes.

"It had to have felt lonesome for her," said Clerk of Circuit Court Pat Frank, who along with Jan Platt left the commission in 2004 in a Democratic exodus that swung the board to Republicans.

But on Wednesday morning, Castor woke up as Tampa Bay's only Democratic representative in a Congress suddenly controlled by her own party. The Republican commissioners who had snubbed her since she got on the board in 2002 were facing a new reality: Kathy Castor as gatekeeper to federal dollars.

"If we needed anything before, we went to Republican Rep. Adam Putnam a lot," said Edith Stewart, the county's public affairs officer who goes to Washington to lobby for money. "Now Kathy Castor will be the go-to person. She's very well-placed."

Bipartisan approach

Castor, 40, swears she holds no grudges. She said her priority as the representative for the coastal and urban neighborhoods in the three-county district is to do the best job for her constituents.

But Castor definitely has a history with those she now looms over in the political hierarchy.

Aside from being a favorite target of Ronda Storms, who won a state Senate seat Tuesday, Castor held little sway on the commission.

Her first two years on the board were quiet. She was silent on two of the biggest issues of her early tenure, the firing of County Administrator Dan Kleman and a proposed massive transportation spending package that died on a 4-3 vote.

In 2005, however, the same year she filed to run for Congress, she started casting some loud dissents.

When commissioners voted in 2005 against recognizing gay pride, Castor's sole dissent made her name one of the top 10 biggest spikes as a search term nationally on Google the week following the vote.

When commissioners raved about a proposed beltway that critics said would fuel more sprawl, Castor was the lone no vote. When Castor wanted to review the county's policy on accepting gifts from lobbyists, she was shouted down as being out of order.

In November 2005, the Republicans on the board stripped her of her seats on the Children's Board and the Executive Policy Group - the panel that deals with planning for hurricanes and emergencies - in addition to removing her as chairwoman of the Environmental Protection Commission.

"I was ticked off," Castor said.

In exile, she worked behind the scenes, orchestrating political pressure on issues like raising impact fees for school construction.

"I learned never to give up," she said.

Of course, Castor already had filed to run for District 11 by the time she was bounced from those boards. Once she won the primary, she was a virtual lock to win because redistricting had made the district overwhelmingly Democratic while plumping up neighboring districts with more Republicans.

But it wasn't clear until after the election that when Castor went to Washington, her party would be calling the shots.

"The political landscape has changed, and Kathy Castor looks to be well-positioned," said state Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.

Galvano said Castor already was reaching across the party divide. He said she called him in October to discuss transportation, a chief priority for her.

"I was impressed she took the time and was interested," Galvano said. "She made it known that she was going to be bipartisan."

Castor said she would try to steer more Tampa Bay transportation dollars into mass transit. She calls projects such as the proposed beltway around Tampa Bay a bad idea. Rail investment was needed, instead, she said.

Castor said she will push to bolster child health care, reform property insurance and impose stricter regulations on lobbyist gifts.

Sam Gibbons, who represented District 11 for 34 years before retiring in 1996, said it will take time for Castor to make her mark.

"She'll have to work her way up," Gibbons said. "But raising money for others didn't hurt."

'Timing is everything'

Castor said she made it part of her strategy to raise money for other candidates, including Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, who is the likely chairman of the House transportation and infrastructure committee. She also hosted an October brunch fundraiser for Democratic candidates with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Early on, she said, she offered help to the party leadership "with an eye for getting a good committee assignment that will help this district."

This week, Castor and other newly elected U.S. representatives are in Washington for orientation. Committee assignments will be made in January.

Frank said she expects Castor to be more influential than your average first-term representative.

"Timing is everything," Frank said. "She's a case study. Now she's going to Washington in the same year her party grabs power. This is made in heaven for her. It reminds you that, in politics, you never burn bridges. You never know what's going to happen."

Michael Van Sickler can be reached at mvansickler@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3402.

[Last modified November 14, 2006, 05:50:24]