St. Pete’s crowded mayoral race has officially welcomed a long-anticipated contender with big pockets.
Charlie Crist—former governor of Florida and U.S. representative for the state’s 13th congressional district, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater—filed his paperwork Monday, April 27.
With more than $1.2 million in contributions from his PAC, St. Pete Shines, Crist currently has the most financial support out of the five candidates running to unseat Mayor Ken Welch.
Other candidates include retired Fire Chief Jim Large, District 2 Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard, Orange County Corrections administrator Maria Scruggs and Kevin Batdorf, former president of the Shore Acres Civic Association.
Paul Congemi previously ran but withdrew on April 21 due to health issues. In his handwritten resignation note, he said Mayor Welch has his vote.
Voters will decide on the next mayor this during the primary election which wraps on Aug. 18, with a runoff on Nov. 3 if no candidate receives a majority vote.
Crist, who is now a Democrat, served in the Florida Senate from 1993-1998 was elected as Florida’s first Republican attorney general in 2002, four years before voters made him the state’s 44th governor.
The 69-year-old also ran for the U.S. Senate as an Independent, and he entered the 2014 Florida governors’ race as a Democrat, losing both races.
Crist told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay his friends called him to encourage him to join the mayoral race last spring. He returned to the Bay area in time to qualify after visiting Minneapolis for almost a year to be with his soon-to-be Floridian fiancé Chelsea Grimes.
Mayor Welch’s leadership essentially hasn’t gotten St. Pete anywhere, Crist said, adding, “I don’t understand what’s going on, but it feels like somebody’s asleep at the switch.”
His grievances include how Welch handled major plans throughout his tenure, such as the city’s development deal with the Tampa Bay Rays for Tropicana Field. He said the team’s likely departure to Tampa is a “crushing disappointment to St. Petersburg.”
“We built this stadium without the guarantee of a team coming,” Crist said. “You know, a lot of people, sweat equity and hard work into that effort. And now, it looks like they’re leaving.”
He was also disappointed to see how a proposed satellite location for the Moffitt Cancer Center in downtown St. Pete “fell through the cracks” in 2022, when Welch rejected it on the grounds that it didn’t provide enough affordable housing.
And when it comes to affordable housing, Crist told CL that Welch’s solutions have been “absurd.” In response, Crist’s own campaign, which he said primarily addresses affordability, puts residential housing at the forefront specifically.
“You’ve got to make sure that you’re utilizing common sense and you’re in touch with what the citizens of St.
Petersburg are having to deal with—and not thinking that an $800,000 unit is an affordable future for most citizens in St. Pete,” Crist said.
To achieve affordability within the city, Crist told CL he is pro-development through and through, as it improves affordability through employment and produces economic opportunity. But he said he specifically supports “smart development,” a balanced approach that preserves the “distinct charm” and character of the city.
“I think that you do have to be smart about it and understand that, if you over-develop, you may ruin the essence of what makes St. Petersburg very special,” Crist told CL. “I think we can develop so long as we do it smart, so long as we do it right and we don’t overdo it in a way that sort of ruins the cherished place that we all love.”
Crist said he also wants to see development succeed in conversations that have long been debated between Mayor Welch and the city. That includes redevelopment proposals for the Gas Plant District, which was razed decades ago for Tropicana Field’s construction.
The displaced community still awaits promises for success and opportunity, decades later. And Welch previously told CL that he’s open to proposals from developers, but the city continues to delay his plans.
Crist still chalked up the delay to Welch’s inability to take action.
“You have to have a process that makes sense, that gives you the opportunity to objectively evaluate each of the different proposals that have been put forward, to do it in a comprehensive way that doesn’t delay,” Crist told CL. “And it’s been delay after delay after delay in that process. Nothing’s been accomplished.”
Crist believes that with his legal and civic background, he can finish the process and begin redevelopment for the district much sooner.
“I know how to make a decision and to evaluate things to try to make sure that St. Petersburg continues to move forward instead of being stuck in the mud,” Crist told CL. “My perspective is to try to get things done efficiently and effectively. And from what I’ve witnessed so far, the mayor can’t do it.”
Crist also said that if he were mayor last fall, he would’ve simply leaned on First Amendment rights in order to oppose last year’s state-mandated removal of five street and crosswalk murals in St. Pete. He wasn’t pleased to see that Welch didn’t take action.
“Now, why the mayor chose that route, I don’t understand, but I can tell you what I would have done,” Crist told CL. “I would have protected that right to free speech. I would have fought for it, and if necessary, gone to court to fight for it. And he did none of the above. And I don’t know why.”
As Crist’s campaign begins, he said he’s open to the competition this year against Welch and five other candidates.
“I welcome them all as competitors in this race; I’m going to vote for me,” Crist said. “And I hope that most citizens of St. Pete will feel the same if they’re comfortable doing that, and I’m working hard every day to try to earn their trust and their vote.”
Regarding investors, developers and out-of-town donors to Crist’s PAC, he told CL that voters shouldn’t be concerned about the goals of his supporters.
“People who contribute to our campaign—whether it’s through our political committee or direct to the campaign—they’re contributing because they support what I have, a vision for the future of St. Petersburg,” Crist said.
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This article appears in Apr. 30 – May 06, 2026.