What could be the nastiest attack yet landed on Tuesday, when Baker's people dropped an anti-Kriseman ad that dredges up lurid accusations against a key Kriseman aide from nearly 17 years ago.
The new ad, titled "Sunshine," was paid for by Baker's Seamless Florida PAC, which swells with large donations from Republican donors and groups. It focuses on Kevin King, Kriseman's chief of staff, whom Kriseman hired after he was first elected mayor in 2013. In 2001, King had been arrested and charged with "computer solicitation to commit a lewd and lascivious act, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor," the Tampa Bay Times reported at the time. The allegations occurred when King was a substitute teacher for Pinellas County Schools. He was accused of sending inappropriate emails (referring to sex and alcohol, supposedly) to 14-year-old female students. The outcome of the case is unclear, as records records relating to it have long been expunged. But King — who is now married and has kids — said in 2013 the case "was resolved favorably."
The ad is supposedly a means of calling Kriseman's judgment into question for hiring King.
“This race has always been about competency and judgement. Kriseman knowingly hired a former substitute teacher to oversee his education policy who was arrested, charged and immediately fired by the Pinellas school district after police said he asked a 14-year-old girl to perform a sex act – how could anyone be okay with that?” said Brigitta Shouppe, Seamless Florida spokesperson, in an emailed statement heralding the new ad.
Prior to Tuesday, the mudslinging had largely consisted of Baker going after Kriseman for years-in-the-making problems with the city's wastewater infrastructure and Kriseman tying Baker, a conservative Republican, to Donald Trump, who is not a popular figure in St. Petersburg (and by positing that Baker's conservative positions would take the city backwards). With an assist in the form of an endorsement from none other than Barack Obama just before the primary, the latter proved more effective if Kriseman's upward motion in the polls is any indication.
But will going after King serve as a Trump card, so to speak, for Baker?
Possibly, but here are a couple of reasons it may not.
For one, nobody likes attack ads. Many voters see them for what they are: a low blow a candidate or PAC deploys when they reach the bottom of the barrel. At best, they discourage some people from voting. But in local election cycles, voters seem to turn their ire toward the well-funded entity that launched the attack. Think of the 2015 Tampa City Council runoff between now-Councilman Guido Maniscalco and now-State Rep. Jackie Toledo (R-Tampa). Somebody in Toledo's camp thought it was a good idea to go after Maniscalco's grandma. It didn't work out so well for them. Bringing up past allegations against a Kriseman staffer may not be the same, but combine it with recent polling results and it sets the opposition up to brush it off as desperation (which they do).
To some, the "Seamless" ad could instead suggest that no one with a potentially questionable past should be allowed to move on once his or her case has been adjudicated (or debt to society has been paid). In St. Pete, where some neighborhoods are plagued with former felons who can't find a job despite having served their time, that message might not sit so well. Kriseman, meanwhile, successfully pushed for "Ban the Box," which eliminated questions about past convictions in initial employment screenings for city positions.
In publicizing a Kriseman ally's past troubles, it could open Baker up to scrutiny over his boss, who is the sole defendant in a lawsuit in which he is accused of defrauding taxpayers and veterans. And if the opposition wanted to get really sleazy…
Kriseman campaign manager Jacob Smith told FloridaPolitics.com's Mitch Perry that the latest attack is one of desperation.
“On the first day of his campaign, Baker harshly called Deputy Mayor Dr. Kanika Tomalin’s Black History Month article ‘stupid,'” Smith wrote in an email. “Recently, he was forced to pull another false commercial for lying. Now, he’s dug up a 17-year-old story about a case that didn’t go anywhere and had zero to do with Rick Kriseman," Smith said. “We’re confident the people of St. Pete will reject Rick Baker’s Donald Trump-style lies, attacks, and policies. Our campaign will continue talking about how we move St. Pete forward.”
(The ad Smith refers to was revised, not completely pulled.)
Election Day is Nov. 7. Mail ballots are out, and early voting starts on Saturday.
This article appears in Oct 19-26, 2017.