A promotional portrait of former Florida Governor Charlie Crist standing along a covered outdoor brick walkway. Positioned center frame in a medium long-shot, Crist smiles warmly toward the left while resting his hands in front of him, wearing a grey denim button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves, white trousers, a gold watch on his wrist, and a gold ring. To the left, vertical red-brick pillars line the corridor, casting soft shadows across the sunlit tiled floor under an arched ceiling with hanging light fixtures. — Charlie Crist Credit: Charlie Crist campaign

Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist will be St. Petersburg’s next mayor. Crist won the blue city in spite of his connections to Republican donors and an embattled Republican political operative.

With 53% of precincts reporting as of 7:30 p.m., the former Governor of Florida holds a commanding lead over incumbent Ken Welch, according to unofficial returns from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Election .

The mayoral race was one of the ugliest St. Petersburg has seen. Crist campaigned on Welch’s failures, and Welch campaigned on convincing voters there were more successes than letdowns in his first term.

Welch inherited aging infrastructure, which became apparent during the back-to-back hurricanes the city weathered in 2024. The storm response was lackluster for many, particularly residents in the wealthy and flood-prone Shore Acres neighborhood.

Among them was Republican political operative and Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch. Schorsch is husband to Michelle Todd Schorsch, former Crist aide who ran his mayoral campaign. The Schorsches’ enterprises took in over $1 million from the campaign, which they have said is paid to external vendors for services rendered during the race.

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This article appears in Oct. 29 – Nov. 04, 2026.