Thrive
St. Pete mayor begins building reelection war chest
While St. Petersburg’s Mayor Ken Welch will not officially launch his reelection campaign for another year, fundraising season is now in full swing.
Donations to his political action committee, Pelican PAC, are already nearing the six-figure mark. Rev. J.C. Pritchett II called those early results “record-breaking numbers” Thursday evening at a private fundraising event.
Welch said he briefly pondered a reelection bid after an “unusual” four years in office: “Is this really what I want to do?” he asked himself. The answer was “absolutely.”
“Where else would you rather be than leading your hometown through a challenging time?” Welch told the Catalyst.
His tenure began during a pandemic – Welch was sworn in virtually, after testing positive for Covid-19. He has since led the city through a devastating hurricane season and yet another chapter in an ongoing saga with the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, Welch believes those challenges have strengthened the city. He said internal and external stakeholders “now know we can execute a super big deal” like the Historic Gas Plant District’s $6.5 billion redevelopment.
In March, the Rays walked away from long-negotiated plans to transform Tropicana Field and its sprawling parking lots into a vibrant mixed-use community anchored by a new ballpark. Welch said St. Petersburg is now in a better position with “those development rights back in the city’s hands.”
“We’re not going to waver from equitably developing the Historic Gas Plant,” he continued. “Our strength is our diversity.”
Welch said his administration has learned how to promote diversity, equity and inclusion without drawing the ire of state and federal leadership. He used the city’s Hometown Recovery Haulers initiative as an example.
Small businesses and private citizens using whatever vehicles were available collected tons of vegetation, construction materials and flooded appliances from neighborhood curbs. The impromptu storm cleanup crews earned $1.574 million for hauling 5,247 loads to collection sites.
“That’s equity, but folks on both sides of the aisle are saying that’s the way you should do things,” Welch said. “So, we need to keep living our truth. We need to keep knowing who we are in St. Pete.”
Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders said Welch’s 20-year tenure as a Pinellas County commissioner and four years as a mayor provided a unique understanding of the community’s needs. She believes his “pillars of progress” have fostered groundbreaking equitable practices.
Figgs-Sanders also credited Welch’s measured demeanor. “With what we are dealing with in the City of St. Petersburg, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he has to return for four years,” she said.
Council Chair Copley Gerdes echoed that sentiment. “I think being able to take the emotion out and really look at the facts is what makes Ken (Welch) exactly what St. Petersburg needed. And needs today.”
Welch, 60, became St. Petersburg’s first Black mayor in 2021. Voters approved a city charter amendment the following year that moved municipal elections to even-numbered years to align with state and national races. Elected officials gained another year in office.
Welch’s father, David, was the first Black man elected to the city council. The self-proclaimed “child of the Gas Plant” has prioritized helping fulfill long-deferred promises to the African American community that once called the neighborhood home during segregation.
“Ken Welch is not playing games – he wouldn’t accept a bad deal,” Pritchett said of his refusal to offer the Rays additional funding. “He has also not forgotten about our ancestors.”
No one has formally stepped forward to run against Welch. He would remain mayor through 2030 if reelected in November 2026.
Challengers will undoubtedly arise. Welch’s negotiations with the Rays and response to back-to-back hurricanes will likely dominate debates.
He credited his administration, including St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway and new Fire Chief Keith Watts, for strengthening the community. “I see nothing but progress for our city going forward, even the Historic Gas Plant,” Welch said.
“That whole process of working with the county really hasn’t happened on a project anywhere near that size,” he added. “Building those relationships – we know we can put that kind of a package together – really puts us in a better position.”
John
May 5, 2025at4:45 pm
He lost me with more “feasibility studies” for destroying Albert Whitted and now Al Lang. Throw in the marina debacle. The Rays had a sweetheart deal but this ownership group is broke and sucks imo. I don’t blame him for that. I’d vote for Rick Baker before any other thus far.
MS
May 5, 2025at7:08 am
I volunteered and voted for Mayor Welch, but I will not be doing either one this time around. Mayor Welch has been a complete disappointment as a leader of our City, on so many levels and fronts.
Suzanna
May 5, 2025at5:40 am
Maybe he will be as successful building his warchest as he was with moffitt, stadium, welch piles etc. We have nothing to worry about, this guy couldnt build two lego blocks together ….
Richard Courson
May 4, 2025at12:59 pm
I am so sick of “our strength is our diversity” garbage and DEI is so detrimental. Everything should be based on MERIT only. I don’t care if you’re White, Black, Brown, Green, or Purple, It’s what you do, not how you look. So sad to see my old St. Pete turn into some DEI cesspool. I grew up here from the 50s and moved to Colorado 20 years ago, another DEI cesspool, and it’s so destructive. Please bring back normalcy.
Richard Courson
BCHS class of 71
S. Rose Smith-Hayes
May 4, 2025at12:46 pm
I am sitting this one out. I hope Mayor Welch reads these comments and responds. I am concerned about our failing sewer system that needs immediate attention and new residences on multi-levels are being built.
MartyPeters
May 4, 2025at8:58 am
Mayor Ken Welch has failed St. Petersburg in every way possible.
S
May 4, 2025at8:56 am
The comments here are brutal. And universal.
Saint Pete can’t stand its current mayor. He is inept on innumerable levels.
He is a disaster and needs to go.
I agree.
Nicole Caron
May 4, 2025at8:46 am
I concur with the others who have posted. Welch’s tenure has been characterized by a series of spectacular failures. Why would any thinking voter cast a ballot for more of the same? Let’s hope that some younger, more forward-thinking candidates jump into this race. I won’t be voting for Welch a second time. He showed us exactly who he is and what he is (in)capable of in his first term.
TB
May 4, 2025at7:40 am
St. Pete needs to move on from Mayor Welch. His failures on major issues (the Moffitt Center, the Trop site, debris removal, sanitation capacity) are many. His accomplishments are mainly DEI related and with St.Pete’s growth and trajectory, we can no longer afford to be governed by career politicians that lack the skills or experience needed to make our city prosper.
Tim K
May 3, 2025at7:12 pm
So let’s find someone who knows what they are doing and stop playing political games
Lauren Lopez
May 3, 2025at4:44 pm
He needs to check his ego. I will not be voting for him a second time and I doubt many of my friends will, based on discussions we have already begun having. He has been a huge disappointment. And, frankly, an embarrassment.
Alan DeLisle
May 3, 2025at7:05 am
He will need a lot more than six figures to overcome his dismal record. He negotiated the worst deal with the Rays in the history of MLB. Thank God the Rays walked. He has delivered nothing.
The Chamber and Partnership will support him. That tells you everything that has happened since Kriseman ran a professional shop based on good policy, not on politics and money. Good luck St Pete in finding objective leadership again.
John
May 2, 2025at2:32 pm
What’s his accomplishments so far to promote a second term?
– Flopped the Rays and Tropicana Field Redevelopment (let alone cutting the insurance)
– Flopped the Marina Project
– St Pete Library still isn’t open
– Had a term coined as “Welch Piles” during the Hurricanes
– Had to eliminate his Deputy Mayor after she was found bullying subordinates
– Canceled the Moffit Deal for no reason
– Got exposed by the Tampa Bay Times for not coming to work early in his tenure and instead working from home
It was a nice story in the beginning due to his father being the first black councilman and him being the first Mayor, but I’m finding it difficult to find things to highlight his tenure up to this point. Kriesman left this city with a ton of momentum and progress and Welch seems to have killed it all. For a politician to be in this field for as long as he has, it makes his tenure look even worse now.