About Audette Bruce Tampa City Council District 5 Candidate

Audette Bruce, Candidate for
Tampa City Council District 5

Audette Bruceis a dedicated public servant with a strong track record in international development, community engagement, and legislative service. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Colgate University and an M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University.

Audette’s commitment to service began early—spending summers in high school and college rebuilding homes for low-income families across the country. That hands-on experience grew into a global career. For over a decade, she worked within the United Nations system, specializing in South-South cooperation and development across the Global South.

As a policy specialist at the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, she led initiatives promoting collaboration among developing countries, crafted high-level speeches, produced a quarterly magazine spotlighting innovation in the Global South, and developed strategic frameworks for national and regional cooperation centers.

Before her work at the UN, Audette gained experience in fundraising and community development. In 2012, she and her family moved to Tampa to be part of a local church plant and quickly found use for her advocacy, community development and fundraising skills to bring resources and attention to the redevelopment of the West Tampa community.

In 2020, driven by a desire to shape local solutions, Audette entered state politics, joining the campaign of State Representative Jackie Toledo. She later served as a legislative aide in the Florida House of Representatives, supporting Rep. Toledo, Rep. Traci Koster, and most recently, Rep. Berny Jacques—where she contributed to constituent services and legislative policy development.

With a lifelong dedication to service and a deep understanding of both global and local challenges, Audette Bruce is now working to bring experienced, thoughtful leadership to Tampa’s City Council.

Platform:

Affordable Housing
& Smart Development
Tampa is full of neighborhoods with character and appeal worth preserving, but we need to balance that with smart development. As our city grows, we must invest in and improve our communities without pushing out longtime residents and neighbors who call them home.

Traffic and Road Safety
Our roads are overloaded and traffic is only set to increase over time. We need real solutions that re-envision our community's transit infrastructure as safe, scalable, and ready to take on the challenges of the coming decades.

Public Safety
The safety of every Tampa neighborhood is a non-negotiable. We cannot allow crime to take root in any part of our city. It’s time for bold, community-driven solutions that partner with local law enforcement to build real, lasting safety—block by block, neighbor by neighbor. Strong communities start with safe streets.