Crist beats Welch in St. Petersburg mayor’s race

Former governor Charlie Crist has a new title: Mayor of St. Petersburg.

Crist defeated incumbent Mayor Ken Welch to become the city’s next mayor.

With all 86 precincts reporting, Crist led 62% to 38%.

The margin of victory is larger than the primary in August, when Crist claimed 35% of the vote to Welch’s 20.5%. Since neither got more than 50%, both advanced to the general election.

“People would say to me, ‘You know, you’ve been governor. Why are you going to run for mayor?’ Because it’s home. It’s hometown, and you know, home is where the heart is,” Crist said during his victory speech Tuesday night, a little over an hour after the polls closed.

With his fiancée, Chelsea Grimes, by his side, Crist called the race the most unifying political experience he ever had.

“It’s a nonpartisan race, and I can’t tell you how sweet that’s been, because as you all know, it’s a little toxic out there politically,” Crist said. “But we have Republicans, we have Democrats, we have independents, we have Black, we have white, we have everything in this room, and it’s a great thing. Saint Petersburg comes together.”

The speech followed a heated campaign, with Crist refusing a one-on-one debate with Welch before a live audience, agreeing to only one televised forum.

During that debate, Crist, 70, criticized Welch’s handling of the city’s recovery from two hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Rays breaking their lease to build a new baseball stadium, and the lack of creating affordable housing.

Welch, 62, defended his record and said Crist couldn’t back up his campaign pledges with anything specific.

The candidates differed on what to do with the Tropicana Field site. The 86 acres will become available when the lease for the Tampa Bay Rays expires at the end of the 2028 season.

Welch favors a mixed-use development on what is being called the Historic Gas Plant District. Earlier this year, he chose The Burg Bid, led by Thompson Whitney Blake.

Crist wants to get more information before moving forward on the rebuild. He could send the entire project back out for bids again. That’s what happened when Welch first took office, as he turned thumbs-down on predecessor Rick Kriseman’s proposal.

The Rays had agreed to rebuild on the Tropicana Field site, but backed out of the deal after Hurricane Milton shredded the dome’s roof. The dome has since been rebuilt – hosting last week’s baseball World Series – but the team has since agreed to build a new stadium in Tampa.

Crist also argued St. Petersburg should continue pursuing the team until construction actually begins in Tampa. Welch called that unrealistic, citing the city’s previous efforts to retain the team.

Also, Crist has proposed a property tax cut, saying some of that money could be recouped by cutting what he called unnecessary positions at City Hall. He said 262 city positions were added during Welch’s administration, calling it “a bloated government.”

Welch, in response, said many of those positions are funded by utility fees and taxes and not through property taxes. He has challenged Crist to fully explain what he would cut to make his property tax reduction proposal work.

Crist has faced his own criticism for switching to the Democrats after being a Republican and being a political opportunist.

Crist has said the City of St. Petersburg’s spending is out of control and that he could have done a better job keeping the Rays on the Pinellas side of the Bay area.

Both candidates also opposed Amendment 3, a statewide ballot proposal that would expand homestead property tax exemptions.

Amendment 3 passed Tuesday, with 62% percent of the vote.

Steve Newborn is a reporter with WUSF, the bay area’s NPR afilliate. Eva Liguori contributed to this report.