The political committee supporting St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch‘s re-election campaign has missed another campaign finance deadline.

St. Petersburg Progress has not yet filed its report covering campaign finance activity on Aug. 14, the last weekday of early voting ahead of the Aug. 18 Primary.

The report was due by Aug. 21. As of Aug. 27, it had still not been received by the Division of Elections.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist, Welch’s opponent in the Nov. 3 General Election runoff, filed the report for his affiliated political committee, which showed nothing raised that day but more than $49,000 in expenditures.

Both candidates are facing another filing deadline Friday for financial activity covering Aug. 15-21.

This is the second time this election cycle Welch’s political operation has missed a filing deadline. St. Petersburg Progress also filed a late report in June, citing a family emergency. The report was due June 10 but was filed June 11. The committee incurred a $50 late fine, which it paid on or before July 20, according to Division of Elections records.

This is also far from the first time a political committee supporting Welch has had issues. In fact, the incumbent is now on his third political committee since becoming Mayor. His first, The Pelican PAC, was revoked by the state in November 2024 for consistently failing to file certain required documents.

Welch’s second PC, The Pelican Political Action Committee, formed in January 2025 to replace it. Welch’s political operation abandoned that committee early this year after it became public that the committee’s former treasurer had allegedly stolen more than $207,000 from it. Yolanda Brown, according to Welch’s campaign, made a series of unauthorized expenditures to a business she controls.

It’s worth noting that the second committee, The Pelican Political Action Committee, is still listed in state election records as active. It also missed the June 10 campaign finance report filing deadline, incurring an $8 late fine. Records show that fine has not yet been paid.

As Welch struggles to meet reporting requirements and with overall oversight of his fundraising operation, he also continues to face funding challenges. Crist has a commanding cash-on-hand advantage over Welch. As of Aug. 13, Crist had more than $366,000 still on hand between his two funding sources. Welch, by comparison, had less than $56,000.

And Crist is the far-and-away front-runner in the race. Polls ahead of the Primary showed him with a commanding lead among the entire field of six candidates, and a heavy favorite in a General Election matchup against Welch.

A St. Pete Polls survey taken in late July found Crist leading Welch decisively, at 45% to 30%, with 25% still undecided under that scenario. Endorsements from defeated candidates — particularly ones like Maria Scruggs, whose supporters may have been reluctant to back the front-runner — give Crist a clear path to converting those undecided voters.

Crist is also growing support from community leaders. Since Election Day last week he has earned endorsements from two of the four candidates who didn’t make the mayoral runoff, Scruggs and Kevin Batdorf. Jim Large has said he won’t endorse, and Brandi Gabbard has not yet said whether she’ll support one of the remaining candidates.

Former St. Petersburg Mayors Bill Foster and Bob Ulrich also recently backed Crist, meaning three of the four living former Mayors are now in Crist’s corner.

The Scruggs endorsement is perhaps one of the most important Crist has received since the Primary. While she received only 2,886 votes in the Primary (Crist neared 20,000 while Welch collected more than 11,000), Scruggs’ campaign largely targeted support in the Black community, a demographic Welch needs to remain competitive in a head-to-head.

A Tampa Bay Times analysis of Welch’s performance precinct-by-precinct in the city found him winning majority or close-to-majority Black precincts, but with Crist in some precincts not far behind. Even a slight boost among the Black community could significantly impact Welch’s ability to improve on his Primary results, which saw him collect less than 21% of the vote, compared to more than 35% for Crist.

—

Ed. note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.