Lawyer Hoyt Prindle to again run for Tampa City Council, setting up Charlie Miranda rematch

Hoyt Prindle, a local lawyer, will run again for the District 6 seat on the Tampa City Council.

The incumbent, Charlie Miranda, has not yet filed to run for re-election, but he hasn’t said he won’t either.

“Tampa has a lot of challenges and issues that need to be fixed. At the core of my personal ethos is effectiveness. On day one at Tampa City Council, I will use the experience I have with fixing problems in the private sector to help Tampa improve its housing and transportation challenges, while increasing the city’s transparency and accountability to its hard-working citizens,” Prindle said.

“Voters are tired of listening to our politicians tell stories and give talking points but ultimately not pushing tirelessly to improve their daily lives,” he added, giving a nod to Miranda’s governing style that often lends to lengthy anecdotes from the dais.

“Ultimately voters want politicians who get things done. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work at Tampa City Council to improve and fix our city’s challenges.”

Prindle filed for the seat Thursday. He is working with Statecraft Media on digital and mail communications, the firm Civilized Consulting on field communications and MDW Communications for polling.

Miranda defeated Prindle in 2023 with just shy of 51% of the vote, a vote margin of just 135 votes. Prindle came closer to unseating Miranda than anyone at the time thought possible, collecting 22% of the vote in the Primary and forcing a runoff.

Prindle’s defeat likely was aided by outside donors in a race that saw a significant funding gap. Prindle had far less money to play with, having raised just over $67,000 to Miranda’s more than $153,000.

Following the Primary, a Florida Politics analysis found Miranda brought in $74,000 from mostly top-dollar contributions from groups, political committees, wealthy donors and community leaders.

Miranda has been on the City Council on and off since 1974 and is now serving his ninth term.

While Prindle avoided calling attention to Miranda’s age in his previous challenge, the veteran City Council member turns 86 this year. If he served his entire term, he would be 90 at the end of it.

“Tampa is a world-class city. The only thing holding us back is ourselves. I am confident that with fresh leadership, we can build a Tampa that is stronger, more accountable, and more responsive to the challenges of the 21st Century,” Prindle said.

Prindle is a senior associate in the litigation department for the firm PorterWright. He serves on the city’s Citizens Advisory Budget and Finance Committee as an appointee of City Council member Alan Clendenin.

Prindle previously volunteered for Habitat for Humanity; the St. Bernard Project to help Hurricane Katrina survivors; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay; the Stetson Veterans Law Institute; and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

He previously earned the Award of Distinction from the Florida Public Relations Associations for his advocacy for Florida’s flagship universities.

Prindle received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University and earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Tampa. He worked several years for the Florida Business Development Corporation, where he helped small-business owners obtain low-cost capital to grow. Through that work, Prindle helped obtain more than $100 million in Small Business Administration funding.

Prindle later earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law.