Tampa City Council Member Resigns To Run For FL House Seat

Updated: Tuesday, 3:52 p.m.

TAMPA, FL — Tampa City Council member Luis Viera announced Monday that he submitted his resignation from council to the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections to run for the Florida House of Representatives.

Viera’s resignation goes into effect on Nov. 2, he said.

His resignation was required under state law to run for the Florida legislature.

He represents Tampa’s District 7, a single-member district that includes Forest Hills, Terrace Park, New Tampa and the University of South Florida.

“I really, from my heart, appreciate the opportunity to serve and the trust given to me by my constituents. Like Kris Kristofferson sang: the going up was worth the coming down,” Viera, who represents Tampa’s District 7, wrote in a social media post.

The council member, a Democrat, filed last year to run for the District 67 House seat currently held by Democratic House leader Fentrice Driskell, who has termed out this year.

So far, Viera is running unopposed in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary. He was initially set to face fellow Democrat William Atkins in the race, but Atkins suspended his campaign and endorsed Viera, Florida Politics said.

The top Democratic and Republican candidates will go head-to-head in the Nov. 3 general election.

Lisette R. Bonano is the only GOP candidate to qualify so far.

A lifelong Tampa resident, Viera assumed the District 7 seat in December 2016 after a special election to replace council member Lisa J. Montelione, who resigned then to run for the Florida House, Ballotpedia said. He was reelected in 2019 and 2023.

“I think back to my first campaign ten years ago. My real victory in that campaign was filing and getting in the ring and overcoming a fear of failure. That was the victory for me — not winning the race. Winning was nice — but running was the win for me and for what I was going through.

For so many of us, getting in that ring — whether for running for office or trying for a job or asking someone out or trying to have a child — is the victory. It takes a lot of heart to put yourself out there,” Viera said in a social media post.

He added, “We all have life victories and life failures. I know I do. We all do. I think back to my victory of 2016 of overcoming my fear and running for office. I am grateful I did that and grateful to have known so many of you as a result.”

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Viera graduated from the University of South Florida in 2000 and Stetson College of Law in 2003, according to the city website. He was admitted to the Florida bar that same year and is a state-certified mediator.

As a member of city council, he served as chair of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ Transportation Disadvantaged Committee, and sat on the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), serving as chair from 2023 through this year.

He’s also a member of numerous organizations, including the Thaddeus Stevens Society, the Tampa Hispanic Bar Association, the Cuban American Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, Centro Asturiano de Tampa, the George Edgecomb Bar Association and the NAACP.

Viera is the former chair of both the Hillsborough County Bar Association Diversity Committer and the city of Tamp Civil Service Board. He’s a founder and former president of the Lawyers Autism Awareness Foundation and previously served on the board of Tampa Bay Best Buddies.