City ordinance would shorten qualifying period for St. Pete candidates, align election dates with Midterms

St. Petersburg City Council will consider an ordinance that would shorten the qualifying period for local candidates and formally align the city’s 2026 election dates with the state’s election calendar.

The proposal would establish a one-week qualifying window for municipal candidates, mirroring the period used for state, county and federal elections. The city currently allows a two-week qualifying period beginning 11 weeks before the municipal Primary, along with a separate two-week “pre-qualifying” period.

Assistant City Attorney Brett Pettigrew wrote in a memo that the change is intended to give the City Clerk a full week to process candidate paperwork and meet ballot submission deadlines set by the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections (SOE). If approved, the new schedule would reduce that overall window from three weeks total to two weeks of pre-qualifying followed by a one-week qualifying period.

“That approach will allow the City Clerk to complete processing of all qualifying paperwork during the week that falls between the week of the City’s qualifying period and the week in which the SOE’s ballot deadline falls,” Pettigrew wrote in the ordinance.

The ordinance also ratifies the dates of St. Petersburg’s 2026 municipal elections, confirming they will be held on the same days as the state Primary and General Elections on Aug. 18, 2026, and Nov. 3, 2026.

Voters previously approved a local referendum moving City Council and mayoral elections to even-numbered years, to align with state and federal races. The idea was to encourage greater voter turnout in local elections and reduce election costs by putting races on already existing ballots.

The proposal further updates language in the City Code regarding write-in candidates, bringing those provisions into compliance with Florida statutes that require all candidates to qualify during the same period.

The measure is scheduled for first reading at the City Council meeting on Nov. 13, 2025, with a public hearing and final vote on Dec. 4, 2025.

Mayor Ken Welch will be up for re-election on the 2026 ballot. Races for even-numbered districts on City Council are also up for election, with City Council members Brandi Gabbard and Gina Driscoll leaving office due to term limits — Gabbard has announced she will challenge Welch for Mayor — and Lisset Hanewicz and Richie Floyd facing re-election.