Kathy Castor is the Tampa Bay area’s voice in the U.S. Congress.
Castor focuses on issues vital to Tampa Bay area families and businesses and is committed to building a stronger economy. She works on initiatives that create jobs, maintain safety, improve schools, provide access to affordable health care, and protect consumers and the environment.
Castor is an outspoken advocate on behalf of the hardworking families, students and seniors of the Tampa Bay region. She has successfully worked to raise the minimum wage, cut taxes for middle-class families, increase the amount of Pell grants for students and improve Medicare. During the housing downturn, she hosted numerous foreclosure prevention workshops designed to help homeowners stay
in their homes. And, during the economic recovery, Castor has hosted job fairs to connect neighbors to hundreds of job opportunities. Most recently, she has fought for the safety of our neighbors, including protecting our communities from gun violence as well as the public’s health as it faces the threat of a Zika virus outbreak.
Before her election to Congress, Castor served as a Hillsborough County Commissioner and chair of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission. As County Commissioner in 2005, she was the sole vote against a gay pride ban; this ban was finally repealed unanimously by the Hillsborough County Commission in 2013. In 2005, Castor was named as the Tampa Bay Business Journal's Woman of the Year in government.
Castor is a graduate of Tampa’s Chamberlain High School, Emory University and Florida State University College of Law. Castor and her husband have two daughters. She is the daughter of former Hillsborough County Judge Don Castor and former University of South Florida President and statewide-elected Education Commissioner Betty Castor. She is the former President of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and partner in a statewide law firm.
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