Brandi Gabbard, rounding out her second term on the St. Petersburg City Council, has made her bid official for mayor of St. Petersburg.
After telling the Tampa Bay Times in October that she would run for mayor, Gabbard filed paperwork Tuesday for the August primary election. She joins an increasingly crowded field challenging Mayor Ken Welch, who is running for reelection.
In her announcement, Gabbard said her candidacy “highlights a move away from the reactive decision-making that has led to missed opportunities.“ It’s a swing at Welch, with whom she has lately sparred with publicly.
“I am running for Mayor because St. Petersburg is at a critical crossroads,” Gabbard said in a news release. “From the way we redevelop city-owned land to how we protect our neighborhoods from rising tides, my commitment is to ensure that progress in our city is sustainable and built on a foundation of trust.”
Her key issues, according to the announcement, are curbing flooding, demanding true community benefits from major redevelopment projects, championing a healthy workplace culture and strengthening regional partnerships.
Gabbard was in lockstep with Welch for much of his administration. She showed unwavering support for a Tampa Bay Rays stadium and surrounding redevelopment deal struck in 2024.
Gabbard broke with the mayor last year. She opposes an effort to redevelop the downtown waterfront into a cohesive “Center for the Arts,” arguing that money could be better spent on other needs. She also pushed Welch to revive the Science Center, saying, “We really need a win as a city.”
Gabbard and Welch have publicly traded barbs. Welch made a rare appearance in the council chambers to call out her “theatrics” after she accused the mayor of “running in his own direction” on how the city should react to a state ban on street art.
Tensions between the two continue to flare. Gabbard rallied council members to oppose Welch’s selection of a developer for the Historic Gas Plant District, crippling his efforts to land the project before the upcoming elections.
She also recently assailed Welch for asking council members to sign on to a last-minute letter without their input opposing a bill that would broadly preempt cities from supporting any “diversity, equity, and inclusion” activities.
On local radio and at his State of the City address last month, Welch described Gabbard’s motives as political. At the latter event, he said the Gas Plant is a “test” of whether the city is “distracted by election-year politics and political agendas.”
One of Gabbard’s opponents in the mayoral race is former St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Large. After anonymous comments from an employee survey accused Large of fostering a workplace hostile to women and minorities, Gabbard called for a change in leadership backed by her own experience with Large. She said was met with “disrespect, bullying, and attempts at intimidation” in her interactions with him.
Welch ultimately cleared Large of the allegations. Large returned to his post for a few months until he retired at Welch’s request following Large’s adult daughter publicly posting a photo of him holding a coffee mug that read: “Go ahead, call HR.”
Gabbard has represented the city’s northernmost district since 2018. She was automatically reelected when she ran unopposed in 2021. She is a managing broker for Suncoast Realty Solutions.
In the race for mayor, Gabbard will also face former NAACP St. Petersburg branch president Maria Scruggs and perennial candidate Paul Congemi.
Former Florida governor and congressman Charlie Crist, who is on the campaign trail and whose camp has reportedly raised over $1 million through a political committee, is expected to file to run for mayor. Past Shore Acres Civic Association president Kevin Batdorf also said he would run.
The primary election is Aug. 18. If no candidate wins a majority, the two candidates with the most votes will head to a runoff Nov. 3.