Nick Nuccio
| Nick Nuccio | |
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| Mayor of Tampa | |
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In office October 1, 1963 – October 3, 1967 |
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| Preceded by | Julian Lane |
| Succeeded by | Dick A. Greco |
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In office October 2, 1956 – October 1, 1959 |
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| Preceded by | J.L. Young, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Julian Lane |
| Member of the Tampa City Council | |
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In office 1929–1937 |
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| Member of Board of County Commissioners of of Hillsborough County |
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In office 1937–1956 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 10, 1901 Ybor City, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | August 26, 1989 (aged 87) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Concetta Licata (m. 1924; d. 1989) |
| Children | Vincent Philip, Rosalie Mary, Marietta Louise |
| Profession | Businessman / Politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Nicholas Chillura Nuccio (Oct. 24, 1901 - Aug. 26, 1989) was a two-time mayor of Tampa, Florida in the 1950s and 60s. He was the Tampa's first mayor of "Latin" (specifically Italian) descent, having been born and raised in the immigrant neighborhood of Ybor City.
Nick Nuccio was the son of Sicilian immigrants who were among the first to populate Ybor City. As was common at the time, he left school after the 8th grade to help support his family, taking a job in the Tampa shipyards during World War I. After the war, Nuccio dabbled in real estate and insurance, then became a clerk in the Ybor City post office.
In 1929, Nuccio successfully ran for a seat on the Tampa City Council as a representative from Ybor City. He was reelected several times before moving on to the Hillsborough County Commission in 1937, a post he held continuously until 1956.
While serving as chairman of the county commission, Nuccio found a novel method of increasing his local name recognition. A strong proponent of neighborhood improvements, Nuccio managed to get the words "Nick C. Nuccio, County Commissioner" stamped on every public works project he had approved. For several subsequent decades, his name was visible on sidewalks, park benches, seawalls, and virtually every other piece of concrete laid by Hillsborough County during his long tenure.
By the mid-1950s, Nuccio had built up substantial support in Tampa, especially among Latin voters in Ybor City and West Tampa, and decided to run for mayor. In 1955, he challenged incumbent Curtis Hixon, who had been in office since 1943. Hixon easily defeated Nuccio, winning reelection after national newspaper coverage alleged that Nuccio had close ties to organized crime. Hixon died in 1956 before finishing the term, and Nuccio ran for the office again against interim mayor J.L. Young. Although the Tampa Tribune again endorsed Nuccio's opponent, Nuccio won in an extremely close runoff election (50.1% to 49.9%) to become Tampa's first "Latin" mayor.
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Wikipedia