Ex-Governor Charlie Crist Running for St. Petersburg Mayor

Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for Mayor of St. Petersburg, he announced recently. Crist served as Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011. He’ll face incumbent Mayor Ken Welch, along with several other declared candidates. “I grew up in St. Pete,” Crist said in his announcement. “It’s where my dad was a family doctor, where I played quarterback, where my family still goes to church. No matter where life has taken me, home has always been right here.” Though Crist was born in Pennsylvania, he moved to St. Petersburg as a child. He attended Riviera Junior High School and St. Petersburg High School before relocating out of the area for college. Crist’s campaign pitch frames him as a candidate who knows how to attract jobs to the city and handle crises such as flooding and infrastructure damage. He also makes a point to highlight his roots in St. Petersburg. The decision by Crist to run for Mayor of St. Petersburg is his first campaign for office since the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election, when he ran as the Democratic nominee. Crist was defeated by incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis, earning 39.97% of the vote against DeSantis’ 59.37%. The 2026 St. Petersburg Mayoral Election Incumbent St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, a Democrat, has declared his campaign for re-election. He’ll face Crist and other candidates in a non-partisan election on August 18. If any candidate eclipses 50% of the vote, they win outright. If none do, the top-two move on to a runoff on November 3. St. Petersburg City Councilor Brandi Gabbard has also declared her candidacy, as has former Fire Chief Jim Large. Other declared candidates include Kevin Batdorf, Paul Congemi, and Maria Scruggs. Charlie Crist’s Political History Charlie Crist’s beginnings in Florida politics were as a Republican. He was a member of the GOP when he served in the Florida state Senate from 1992 to 1998, as Education Commissioner from 2001 to 2003, and as Florida Attorney General from 2003 to 2007 under Gov. Jeb Bush. He remained a Republican during his governorship. The first time Crist ran for office apart from the Republican Party was in the 2010 Senate election, when he campaigned as an Independent. Republican Marco Rubio won that race with 48.89% of the vote, with Crist a distant second with 29.71%. Democrat Kendrick Meek was third with 20.20%. Earlier in Crist’s career, he lost another U.S. Senate election as a Republican candidate. In 1998 at the end of his Florida Senate career he ran against incumbent Bob Graham. Crist came up short in that election, earning only 37.53% of the vote. Crist ran for governor a second time in 2014, this time aligned with the Democratic Party. He secured the nomination, but lost to Rick Scott in the general election by just 64,145 votes. In 2016 he successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida’s 13th congressional district. He served in the House as a Democrat until 2022, when he left office for his third gubernatorial run.