Spotlight: Charlie Crist, candidate for St. Petersburg mayor

Spotlight

Oct 18

Photo: U.S. House official portrait, 115th Congress (public domain)

Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor and congressman, is running for mayor of his hometown. He finished first in the Aug. 18 primary and faces Mayor Ken Welch in a citywide runoff on Nov. 3 (WUSF). The race is officially nonpartisan. Both men are Democrats; Crist said when he filed that he will stay a registered Democrat (FOX 13).

Who he is

Crist, 70, was born in Altoona, Pa., in 1956 (Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress). His family settled in St. Petersburg soon after, and he was class president at St. Petersburg High School (Florida Department of State). He played football at Wake Forest, graduated from Florida State University in 1978 and earned a law degree from Cumberland School of Law (National Governors Association).

A mayoral win would give Crist his seventh public office (FOX 13). As a Republican, he was elected to the Florida Senate in 1992, became education commissioner in 2001 and attorney general in 2003, and was governor from 2007 to 2011 (Florida Department of State).

In 2010 he left the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, ran as an independent and lost to Marco Rubio (Ballotpedia). He became a Democrat in December 2012 (Washington Post). He lost the 2014 governor's race to Rick Scott by about 1 point, served in the U.S. House from 2017 to 2022, and lost the 2022 governor's race to Ron DeSantis by about 19 points (Ballotpedia; Biographical Directory).

Why he says he's running

Crist filed at City Hall on April 27 (St Pete Catalyst). He has said St. Pete is "on hiatus from success" and blames the collapse of the Rays stadium deal on a breakdown in communication (FOX 13). His campaign lists affordability as its top issue, followed by hurricane recovery, economic development, education, flooding and the Rays (campaign site).

Where he stands

Gas Plant: Appoint a "blue ribbon panel" to review Welch's chosen developer, The Burg Bid, and compare other options (WUSF).
Taxes: Proposes cutting the city property tax rate by 0.4 mills, with fewer city staff, if statewide Amendment 3 fails (FOX 13). He opposes Amendment 3, as does Welch (WUSF).
Resilience bond: Opposed the up-to-$600 million bond at the Oct. 13 debate. Axios reported that a week earlier he had said on the radio he would probably vote for it (Axios).
License-plate cameras: Pause them over privacy concerns (FOX 13).
City-owned electric utility: Opposes leaving Duke Energy for a municipal utility (Axios).
Access: Promises monthly constituent meetings (Axios).

What he says about his opponent

Crist has faulted Welch on hurricane recovery, the loss of the Rays deal, the Gas Plant and affordable housing (WUSF). He says Welch is hard to reach and let the Tangerine Plaza developer miss deadlines (Axios), and that the city should have sued the state over the removal of a rainbow street mural (Axios).

What his critics say

Welch calls Crist a career politician who has offered no plan and moved back to the city a year before the race (Bay News 9). Welch has also said nearly a third of Crist's money came from Republicans, most of it from outside the area (FOX 13). Crist skipped the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club debate in July and held a phone town hall instead (Tampa Bay Times). The two met in one televised debate, on Bay News 9 on Oct. 13 (WUSF).

The race

In the Aug. 18 primary, Crist won 35.2% to Welch's 20.7%, with Jim Large third at 17.8% (Decision Desk HQ). A St. Pete Polls survey of 379 likely voters on July 18 had Crist at 44% and Welch at 28%, with a margin of error of 5 points (Poliverse). Later surveys reported by Florida Politics show Crist ahead by wider margins. St. Pete Polls surveys are conducted for Florida Politics, whose publisher, Peter Schorsch, is married to Crist's campaign chair, Michelle Todd Schorsch. Her firm has been paid by Crist's political committee (Creative Loafing Tampa).

The money

Crist raised more than $2 million before the primary, about four times Welch's total (Creative Loafing Tampa). More than $550,000 reached his committee from other political committees, some of it traceable to Duke Energy, TECO and FPL's parent company; Crist says he "cannot be bought" (Axios).

Who's backing him

St. Petersburg's four living former mayors, including Rick Kriseman, and council members Lisset Hanewicz, Gina Driscoll and Mike Harting have endorsed Crist (Axios). State Sen. Darryl Rouson dropped his dual endorsement to back Crist alone (Creative Loafing Tampa).

How to vote

The runoff is on the Nov. 3, 2026 general election ballot, and every St. Petersburg voter can vote in it. The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections has information on mail ballots, early voting and polling places; its Elections Service Center is at 727-464-8683. See our Spotlight on Ken Welch and our Pinellas County voter guide.

How we reported this: This profile was drafted with AI assistance from the sources linked above, and every fact was checked against those sources. FMNN Spotlight profiles are not endorsements. See an error? Contact us and we'll correct it.

Florida Man News Network has endorsed Ken Welch in this race in a separate opinion piece; this profile is straight news.

Joseph Jackson