Cates surprises everyone with county commission announcement

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

It was no surprise when former Key West Mayor Craig Cates filed Jan. 22 to run for Monroe County Commission in 2020. What was shocking is who he may run against.

Cates, who termed out as mayor in November, had confirmed publicly 11 months ago that he was planning on running in District 3, where Heather Carruthers is serving her third term as county commissioner. But when he filed candidate papers with the county election supervisor on Wednesday, he filed for District 1, where Commissioner Danny Kolhage will be up for reelection in November 2020. The reason for the switch? Location, location, location. Cates recently moved into a new house on Staples Avenue just west of 10th Street, effectively moving his residency from District 3 to District 1 by about a block. The district switch was almost as much of a surprise to Cates.

“It’s my bad. It [new home address] is so far into town that I took it for granted” it was in District 3, Cates said. “And nobody told me it wasn’t.”

District 3 covers roughly the western half of the island in the Old Town area plus Dredgers Key off of Sigsbee Road. District 1 covers the eastern half of Key West including New Town, plus Stock Island and Key Haven. The districts are used for candidate residency requirements only. Monroe County residents are eligible to vote for candidates in all of the districts.

Switching potential opponents – neither Kolhage nor Carruthers have announced whether they will run for reelection – was not an issue for Cates. He said he hadn’t planned on campaigning against Carruthers per se, but on his own record during his nine years as mayor of Key West, the only elected office Cates has held. He said he called Kolhage the day he filed, dropping a bombshell on the current Mayor Pro Tem of the county commission.

“I wanted to let him know first. I respect his years of service but I feel I can bring something to the county,” Cates said, taking the opportunity to tout his mayoral experience working with both county and state officials while representing Key West. “I filed early because I want to get started meeting the people in the Upper Keys. I want to know their issues and concerns.”

Kolhage is serving his second, four-year term as county commissioner. There have been scattered rumors he may not run for reelection and it is possible a popular politician like Cates as an opponent might impact that decision. Kolhage did not respond to a request for comment from Konk Life by press time.

Carruthers was equally surprised that Cates filed for the District 1 seat, also believing that Cates’ new house was in her district. She said she is “leaning one way” on whether to run for a fourth term but needs to discuss it with her wife. However, she admitted to being “pleased” Cates will not be running in her district.

“Certainly, he would have proven to be a formidable opponent,” she said.

Carruthers is serving her third term as county commissioner, which included two one-year stints as county mayor in 2011 and 2014. She has been rumored to be considering running for a statewide political position in 2020, possibly state representative. The current state representative, Holly Raschein, will term out in 2020.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]