ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Voters in St. Petersburg handed Charlie Crist the mayor office Tuesday, ousting Ken Welch by about a 62-to-38 split in a nonpartisan contest that produced the biggest challenger margin against an incumbent since the strong-mayor charter arrived in the 1990s.
At his election-night gathering, Crist said he felt humbled and grateful and pledged to put the city first. He has campaigned on cheaper living costs and tighter control of city spending as he builds a transition team.
Crist and Welch both left the GOP for the Democratic Party years ago, so party branding barely figured in the runoff-style choice. Post-election commentary blamed Welch late tenure on staffing turmoil, shaky business calls, and a habit of holding grudges after he had broken barriers as the city first Black mayor five years earlier.
Neighbors already are listing demands. Kirsten Hutchings, who runs a thrift nonprofit, wants resiliency projects such as living shorelines and green roofs plus a halt to paving over leftover green lots. Nicole Gebler asked for real low-rent apartments under one thousand dollars a month instead of outsider-owned towers.
The Tampa Bay Rays planned 2029 shift to a Tampa park hangs over downtown. Gebler said game nights feed small shops that need the club to stay put. Crist replied that he does not quit easily and that the franchise ought to remain after St. Petersburg built a ballpark.
Outside advice for the mayor-elect centers on governing, not slogans: repair ties after fights that killed a Moffitt Cancer Center downtown plan, answer records requests faster, appear regularly at City Hall and storm centers, and map a clear path on growth and the Amendment 3 homestead tax hit. Staffing, budgets, and neighborhood meetings now fill the calendar before swearing-in.
Welch concession notes and Crist first sit-downs with council and department chiefs will signal how the city handles housing costs, waterfront building, and the Rays file. The tally itself is settled: roughly 62 percent ends the Welch years and returns Crist to St. Petersburg City Hall.
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