Thrive
My Mayor 2026 – Episode 1
My Mayor 2026. Image generated.
Welcome back to season 2 of My Mayor, the Catalyst series that helps you get to know the person behind the policy. We sat down with each candidate and asked them each the same five questions, with a few followup questions sprinkled in. For Episode 1, we asked:
- What local person, living or dead, best represents the kind of community you want to build?
- Where in St. Petersburg do you go when you need perspective, and what makes that place meaningful to you?
- What leadership trait is overrated?
- What’s the personal cost of putting yourself in the public arena?
- The My Mayor tagline is “The person behind the policy.” What’s something you want voters to understand about you as a person that they won’t find on your campaign website?
The interviews were recorded with video, but a glitch in the matrix caused two of the video files to be corrupted. To keep things equal, we moved to audio only for this episode. We’ll be back with video for Episode 2.
The candidates are presented in alphabetical order by last name. We’ll reverse the order for Episode 2.
Kevin Batdorf
Charlie Crist
Brandi Gabbard
Jim Large
Maria Scruggs
Ken Welch
JAMES GILLESPIE
June 24, 2026at6:38 pm
thank for the interviews. the candidates sound tuned in and with distinctive stories. i liked the questions and personal disclosures.