ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — City of St. Pete voters will head to the polls in August for the mayoral election. It’s expected that Mayor Ken Welch will run for another term.
The Pelican Political Action Committee has already formed, raised, and spent money ahead of that potential announcement. Finance records show not all the money spent was approved by that committee.
Adrienne Bogen is the PAC’s advisor.
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“We demanded the return of funds from our former treasurer. While we assumed the funds would be returned and the former treasurer provided us a transaction receipt for a wire transfer of the funds back to the committee, the funds have yet to be returned,” Bogen said.
Records show $207,500 was given to an LLC connected to the former treasurer.
The PAC said it has reached out to law enforcement to investigate. Her name is being withheld since she is not facing any criminal charges. The former treasurer was unable to be reached for comment.
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State records show the former treasurer was also involved in the mayor’s previous political committee that had its license revoked by the state in 2024. Documents show that PAC failed to submit two or more financial records.
The mayor has not released an official statement. When asked about it at a ribbon cutting event, Welch said he was unable to answer campaign-related questions at a city-sponsored event.
As of now, Maria Scruggs is the only candidate who has submitted documents to run ahead of the August mayoral election. Former Gov. and Rep. Charlie Crist intends to file his campaign documents. City Councilwoman Brandi Gabbard also has expressed her intent to run.
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