Former state Rep. Ben Diamond is backing Charlie Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor, adding another notch on Crist’s list of local endorsers.

In a video over the weekend, Diamond described Crist as a “good friend” and said he’s “looking forward to voting for (Crist) as Mayor.”

“I’ve been friends with you, Charlie, for a long time. And I will just say that I am so excited that Charlie wants to take on this role in leading our city because I know how much he cares about public service and doing the right thing for people, and that has always been your ethos,” Diamond says sitting on a couch with Crist in the video.

“I was privileged to work with you when you were Governor and when you were our Congressman, and can’t wait to see you in action as our Mayor,” he added.

Diamond, a lifelong Democrat, served in the Florida House from 2016 until 2022. It’s not surprising that Diamond would support a candidate other than incumbent Ken Welch. Diamond had briefly mulled challenging Welch himself, even message testing a possible bid. He ultimately decided not to run.

Crist thanked Diamond for his support, describing him as a “wonderful human being” and “a great member of the Legislature” who has “a bright future in public service.”

“If you choose to, St. Pete’s lucky to have had you, and we’ll be lucky to have you again,” Crist said.

Both men encouraged voters to cast a ballot either during Early Voting, which runs Aug. 8-16, by mail or on Election Day Aug. 18.

“Please vote. It’s important. It’s democracy,” Crist closed in the video.

Diamond’s support comes just after former St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker, a Republican, backed Crist. The former Governor also has support from state Sen. Darryl Rouson. Rouson had initially endorsed Welch, but later added Crist in a dual endorsement. Last week, Rouson announced that he has decided to vote for Crist.

Crist also recently earned key support from within City Hall. St. Petersburg City Council Member Gina Driscoll this week became the first on the board to back Crist, a decision that bucked both the incumbent and Driscoll’s colleague, Brandi Gabbard, who is also running for Mayor.

Crist also previously unveiled a larger slate of Democratic leaders supporting his campaign for Mayor, including U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, former U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos of Illinois and Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, former Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary and former state Rep. Frank Peterman, current and former Tampa and St. Petersburg City Council members, and other political leaders.

Endorsements aren’t the only area in which Crist is performing. A St. Pete Polls survey conducted in the final days of June found Crist 12 percentage points ahead of Welch overall.

But what’s potentially worse news for the incumbent is it found him bleeding support among the Black community, dropping from 55% support in March to just 42% in late June. Where Welch dropped 13 percentage points, Crist climbed 14 percentage points, from 16% support in March to 30% in the more recent poll. Now, Welch is just 12 percentage points ahead of Crist among the city’s Black voters.

And Crist continues to dominate fundraising. Crist maintains a nearly $1 million cash advantage over Welch.

Also running in the race are former Shore Acres Neighborhood Association President Kevin Batdorf, former St. Pete Fire Chief Jim Large and former St. Petersburg NAACP President Maria Scruggs. All are polling in the single digits.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the Aug. 18 Primary, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff in the General Election on Nov. 3.