Active St. Pete is endorsing Brandi Gabbard in the St. Petersburg Mayor’s race, highlighting her record on multimodal transportation, pedestrian safety, Complete Streets policies, bike infrastructure, transit access and people-focused development.
“Through her work with regional transportation groups like Forward Pinellas, she has also been involved in broader conversations around walkability, micro mobility, transit-oriented development, and increasing safety for all road users,” Active St. Pete announced.
“Her policy positions have included support for pedestrian infrastructure, bike connectivity, and reducing parking minimums to encourage more neighborhood-scale, people-focused development. We are ‘All Aboard‘ with Brandi and believe she deserves to be our next mayor!”
Gabbard, a St. Petersburg City Council member who has served on the dais for nearly a decade, officially qualified for the ballot last week. She thanked the group for the endorsement and their work in the community.
“I am incredibly grateful to the advocacy leaders and community members who make up Active St. Pete. Their trust, confidence, and shared vision for the future of our city mean the world to me,” Gabbard said.
Gabbard’s campaign has focused on affordability, accountability, resilience and community-driven leadership. Her platform includes proposals aimed at utility costs, housing, public safety, small-business support, transportation, food access and the future of the Historic Gas Plant District.
That includes calls for the city to explore energy independence from Duke Energy, expand access to missing middle housing and accessory dwelling units, reduce regulations and parking requirements that drive up development costs, and treat food access as necessary infrastructure.
Gabbard’s campaign is marking the endorsement Sunday with an “All Aboard” celebration. The event begins with a “Ride the Sunrunner with Brandi” opportunity at 1 p.m. followed by a mixer at 1:30 p.m. at the 3 Daughters Brewing VIP area.
The campaign says the event will give supporters a chance to meet Gabbard and hear more about her vision for safer streets, improved walkability and a more accessible St. Petersburg.
Gabbard faces a competitive field that includes incumbent Mayor Ken Welch, former Gov. Charlie Crist, former St. Petersburg Fire Chief Jim Large, former Shore Acres Neighborhood Civic Association President Kevin Batdorf, Maria Scruggs and Paul Congemi.
The election is scheduled for Aug. 18. If no one secures more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to a November runoff.