Outside money could impact St. Pete mayoral election

Former governor and congressional representative Charlie Crist has launched a potential St. Petersburg mayoral campaign with the help of old friends. With 86 of 112 filed donor addresses from outside the city, Crist has tapped his network of supporters from previous campaigns.

​Florida records show St. Pete Shines recently raised $388,687 for Crist, as well as transferring $336,458 from Friends of Charlie Crist, a previous, since-disbanded organization, created for his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.

St. Pete Shines touted several prominent political figures who donated to Crist. Those include former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Crist expressed pride and gratitude for both previous and current support. He is simultaneously “extremely humbled” and “pleasantly overwhelmed” by the amount he has raised.

​”Fortunately, I have a lot of friends, and they’ve been very kind to me,” Crist told the Catalyst. “And I love them for it.”

Crist was a Republican during his time as Florida’s attorney general and governor. He became an independent in 2010 and lost a U.S. Senate bid before registering as a Democrat and securing a congressional seat in 2016.

Following two reelections, Crist resigned in 2022 to run for governor. St. Pete Shines listed 16 Tallahassee addresses in its first state filing, inlcuding $45,000 from Tallahassee-based We Should All Help, his biggest donation, not inlcuding the PAC transfer.

Incumbent Mayor Ken ​Welch, who lacks the statewide and national political connections one would expect from a former governor and U.S. representative, sits nearer the other end of the spectrum. State records show that 34 of his 65 donor addresses, 52%, are from St. Petersburg, with another nine addresses from elsewhere within Pinellas County.

​Welch’s political action committee (PAC), The Pelican, does not list a single address from the state’s capitol. “I serve the people of St. Petersburg, period – not special interest, Washington PACs or outside donors backing my likely opponent,” he said in a prepared statement.

​“This race is about protecting St. Petersburg’s future and making sure it works for everyone, not just the well-connected.”

Mayor Ken Welch also spoke at the Jan. 9 groundbreaking ceremony.

​Welch’s top donors of $25,000 each include three local real estate and development firms, the Tampa Bay Rays, Green Savoree Racing (promoter of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg) and Neptune Flood CEO Trevor Burgess. Burgess also gave $5,000 to Crist.

​Welch said his donor list “looks like every other mayor or county commissioner.” He expects a “very diverse” group of small and large donors to contribute after he files for reelection.

In total, The Pelican has raised $282,800 for Welch since January 2025. Crist’s St Pete Shines sits at $725,145 from all sources.  Neither he nor Crist has officially filed to run for mayor.

​“I wish that we didn’t have to raise any money,” Welch said. “I didn’t make the rules about political committees. Before the mayoral race, I think I only raised $90,000 for any of my county commission races.”

​Welch raised $801,012 in the two years before he became mayor in 2021. The Pelican now has $48,225 on hand after its previous campaign treasurer allegedly misappropriated $207,500, which he addressed for a followup story that will publish Thursday in the Catalyst.

​Crist called the unfolding situation “unfortunate.” He also noted that “everybody is innocent until proven guilty.”

​Tampa Bay is the state’s most expensive television market for advertising, and Crist stressed the importance of communicating a “message about the future of St. Petersburg” to “as many people as I can.”

​Crist said he would not stop fundraising, regardless of how much money pours into his committee. When asked how he would spend the windfall, he said, “Wisely.”

​“I see it going positive,” Crist said of the mayoral race. “I see it staying positive.”

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