TAMPA — Tampa's city election is under a year away — or is it?

Depending on what City Council members decide next month, winning candidates may not take office until May 2019. In another scenario, electioneering might be in full swing by Christmas.

One thing is very likely: The traditional Tampa three-week sprint between the first and final rounds of the election will be a more leisurely — and expensive — seven weeks.

"The key will be maintaining momentum. Obviously, that's a little more challenging," said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who won't be on the ballot due to term limits. "It means more doors to knock on. More debates. All of which are good things. If you've got an efficient and organized campaign, you can do that."

Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer has asked the city to lengthen its runoff period between the first round of city elections to comply with an existing Florida state law that requires supervisor of election offices to send ballots 45 days before each election to overseas and military voters. Tampa has more than 1,100 overseas and military voters, said Gerri Kramer, Latimer's spokeswoman.

Salvatore Territo, Tampa's city attorney, informed council members at Thursday's meeting. They have scheduled a workshop to hear details from Latimer on April 26.

Although the city charter currently requires the mayor and council members to be sworn in on April 1, it could be changed by ordinance — not referendum — to May 1, Territo said.

Pushing the final vote back would also mean that the qualifying period wouldn't change and March 5 could remain as the first round election day, he said.

The other option would be to shift the first round of the election to early February, which would also move up the qualifying period, Territo said.

That could be a logistical nightmare as much of the first round campaign would take place in December and January.

"I don't know how many people want to campaign during the holidays," Territo said.

Latimer has struggled to get ballots out to overseas and military voters in previous city elections under the current three-week system, but state lawmakers have introduced bills requiring that all local elections be held in either November or March. The latest attempts failed in the just-ended session, which prompted Latimer's request, Kramer said.

She said Latimer had brought the issue up before with Tampa officials. Territo said he hadn't heard about any problems in all of his decades with the city.

Buckhorn said ensuring military and overseas voters have a chance to participate takes precedent over any confusion or reworked political strategies. And the two-term mayor might get an extra month in office.

"There may be some people who don't prefer that," Buckhorn quipped.

A longer runoff after the field has been narrowed to two candidates on March 5 may make the race more expensive, Buckhorn said. But it will also give the candidates a bit of breather after the first round — and more time to replenish their campaign war chests before the final vote in late April, he said.

"The intensity level will not wane at all," Buckhorn said.

Council member Mike Suarez also doesn't see the proposal having much of an effect on next year's mayoral race. He's widely expected to run. It might cost more overall, but donors might just choose to wait longer before reaching for the checkbook, he said.

"Money follows winners," Suarez said. "If people think you're going to be the winner, you'll be able to raise the money."

Whatever council members decide will have a political twist. Many of them will be on the ballot.

Aside from Suarez, Harry Cohen is widely expected to run for mayor. Council member Guido Maniscalco and Luis Viera are up for reelection. Council member Charlie Miranda will also seek another term.

Territo said that state law is clear: The City Council can change the dates of elections. He said he didn't think members have a conflict of interest.

Miranda said he'll listen to his constituents before he makes a decision on the switch. But he isn't worried about future political attacks for his vote.

"They'll accuse me of a lot of things. When you're an elected official, you can't satisfy 100 percent of the population. It's not about me. It's about the city," Miranda said.

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago.