Former St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker opted out of a run for the Congressional seat over which U.S. Rep. David Jolly and former Governor Charlie Crist are presently set to contend.
Legislative roles aren't really his thing, he said; he's more of the executive type.
On Tuesday, Jolly's campaign announced Baker is going to serve as the chair of Jolly's campaign, which isn't entirely surprising, given that he's supported Jolly for a long time.
“David Jolly’s heart belongs to Pinellas, it always has, and his experience in knowing how to get things done has never been more critical for all of us,” Baker said in a media release.
In the same statement, Jolly noted that how suited Baker is for the gig.
“I can’t think of anyone more qualified and respected to chair my re-election effort,” said Congressman Jolly. “Rick Baker is a hometown champion who turned St. Petersburg into a ‘seamless city’ of hope and opportunity. It’s an honor to have him serve as Chairman of our campaign.”
The announcement, obviously, flipped on our Rick Baker is Running for Mayor in 2017 Conspiracy Theory switch.
After all, while he's not actually a candidate, he'll still get a fair amount of exposure at campaign events, many of which we're guessing will take place in south St. Petersburg. As mayor from 2001-2010 he was popular in that predominantly African-American area, which was recently added to the Congressional district in which Jolly is seeking reelection.
So it's a win-win: Jolly's campaign gets helmed (at least partially) by a guy who knows the portion of the district in which the candidate is most vulnerable and he gets to test the waters on a possible run against current St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman next year.
On Friday, Jolly announced he was dropping his U.S. Senate bid to instead run as an incumbent against former Governor Charlie Crist. Baker was present at the press conference.
Jolly had been running for the Senate seat for months largely out of concerns over electability in a newly Democrat-leaning district, but with Sen. Marco Rubio possibly entering the race for his own seat and polling that suggested a competitive race, Jolly jumped back into the race for his own seat.
It's unclear, by the way, whether Rubio is going to run for reelection, but he has until Friday to decide.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2016.