While former Mayor Rick Baker came up short in Tuesday's Mayoral primary, falling behind incumbent Rick Kriseman by 69 votes, Rick Baker camp acted as though they hadn't expected the race to go to a November runoff — even if for weeks many had.
Despite not meeting some projections that had him either reaching the 50 percent-plus-one threshold or defeating Kriseman by 5 plus points, Baker feigned positivity as he addressed supporters at his election watch party at the Staybridge Suites.
“I know you were hoping we would finish this off tonight” said Baker, “but I have to tell you, not me, I'm having too much fun.”
After thanking his supporters and family who that brought him through the primary and paying tribute to those in Texas, Baker was back on the offensive against Kriseman, attacking his record point by point, as he often does, this time angrily in places.
“People talk about a negative campaign, but there are just some things you have to face,” Baker said. “We cannot sustain a city moving forward when we have a mayor who closes a sewer plant, then four months later starts dumping sewage into the bay and then refuses to admit what he does. A year later dumps another 150 gallons into the bay and then lies about it. That sounds like negative campaigning, but it's just facts.”
Baker also reiterated his campaign promises of building on accomplishments of his original tenure, and carrying out a plan for a “seamless city,” a common campaign theme inspired by his 2011 book of the same title.
“Not all neighborhoods are going to be the same, but they should have certain things in common," he said. "They should be safe, you should be able to go to a grocery store, you should be able to go to a bank, you should be able to enjoy your neighbors, just like the other neighborhoods in the city. It's not right that we have seams to divide us.”
While there was no mention of the unexpected endorsement from Barack Obama that may have helped Kriseman make up the difference, Baker criticized use of partisan politics in a nonpartisan election. Kriseman and his supporters have compared Baker to President Trump, who is unpopular in the city, and point to his unwillingness to mention Trump by name — and doesn't think he has to.
“There is a lot wrong with what is going on in Washington D.C.," he said. "There is the partisanship, the divide, all of that. Mr. Kriseman is importing that into our city, to try and create that same divide in our city. I refuse to do that. I'm not going to play his game. I believe that America and St. Petersburg is better than that.”
With the runoff scheduled for November 7, Baker hopes to regain momentum, and the money is likely to flow on both sides.
“We have two more months and we're going to run those two more months all the way to the finish line," he said. "We're going to communicate to everyone in our community that St. Petersburg is going to be best if it is brought together as one city. In November of this year, we're going to win this election.”
This article appears in Aug 24-31, 2017.