St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch defended his first-term record against four challengers who want to take his job Tuesday night during the first mayoral debate, hosted by the local branch of the NAACP.

“I will keep my promise to lead St. Pete to principled and inclusive progress in the second term,” Welch said in his opening statement.

Those challengers include former Florida governor and Pinellas congressman Charlie Crist, who says Welch failed to deliver on a promise to redevelop Tropicana Field and the Gas Plant District.

“We’re running against this current mayor because we have some disappointments or concerns, a lot of people in the city do,” Crist said. “You talk about what’s going on in the Gas Plant area. What’s changed in five years since you’ve been mayor?”

Welch countered that if not for the 2024 hurricanes, the Gas Plant Deal, which would’ve committed more than $700 million in St. Pete funds to build a new stadium and mixed-use district, would be well underway, and the Rays would be staying in the city.

“We signed 12 agreements, and then after the hurricanes they came back and said, ‘We need more money to stay here,’” he responded. “I said, ‘ Not another dime.’ We were a traumatized community.”

St. Pete councilmember Brandi Gabbard says she’s ready to lead because of what she did after the hurricanes flooded much of her district.

“My office essentially served as a triage office for the permitting department for, well, we’re still doing it today,” she said. “What are we, 20 months after hurricanes Helene and Milton?”

While jail administrator Maria Scruggs touted her experience, saying, “I am the only candidate that is sitting up here that has been certified by the state of Florida as a public manager,” realtor Kevin Batdorf pivoted back to hurricanes, saying Welch failed in his response.

“We need to have crews on standby to collect debris, just like Duke [Energy] has crews on standby to fix the electric power grid,” Batdorf said.

The mayor fired back, saying the city had to remove two million cubic yards of debris.

“More debris than we’ve ever moved, and we got it done in 90 days,” Welch replied. “It wasn’t a time for petty name-calling; it was a time to stand on principle, and that’s what I did.”

The election is in August with a possible runoff in November.