Lohn called Welch a \u201creliable partner\u201d who \u201cdoes what he says he is going to do.\u201d She said he ensures law enforcement officers, emergency dispatchers, forensic technicians and \u201cevery other civilian who makes the police department work\u201d have the resources they need to thrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the police department doesn\u2019t have a mayor like Ken Welch, it can\u2019t recruit and maintain that level of professionalism,\u201d Lohn added. \u201cAnd the city needs that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police Sgt. Michael Ward, senior vice president of the PBA, said Welch has \u201chad our back the entire time he\u2019s been the mayor.\u201d Crime rates, particularly the number of homicides, plummeted last year, and Ward said the administration ensures the force has what it needs to \u201cenforce the laws that are on the books.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Welch-reelection-City-Hall-1024x658.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dozens of supporters representing various local organizations stood behind Mayor Ken Welch as he made the announcement.<\/p>\n
Rick Pauley, president of the IAFF Local 747<\/a> firefighters\u2019 union, said in a prepared statement that members who \u201cput their lives on the line every day for this city\u201d need a mayor who \u201crespects that service and invests in keeping our communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKen Welch has listened to firefighters, stood with us and delivered real results for public safety and neighborhoods across St. Petersburg,\u201d Pauley said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to endorse him for reelection.\u201d<\/p>\n Maria Scruggs, former president of the NAACP\u2019s St. Petersburg branch and a longtime community activist, has filed to run against Welch. Councilmember Brandi Gabbard has announced her candidacy, and former Gov. Charlie Crist is also mulling a campaign.<\/p>\n Welch said he and Scruggs, who recently advocated against the mayor running for reelection, \u201cgo back a ways.\u201d Scruggs gave him that same advice before successful Pinellas County Commission races, he said.<\/p>\n Welch added that he looks forward to highlighting the city\u2019s progress, fortitude, innovative housing partnerships and commitment to environmental resiliency on the campaign trail. \u201cI want to talk about real issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOther candidates can have their own propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n Welch noted that he inherited many current issues, including the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District, aging infrastructure and utility billing systems. However, he pledged to show the community \u201chow we fix the problem,\u201d transparently.<\/p>\n A former campaign treasurer allegedly embezzled<\/a> over $200,000 in donations. Welch said his team has reported the theft to the FBI and state investigators.<\/p>\n Crist, as of Jan. 1, had $712,283 on hand, nearly 15 times<\/a> the amount remaining in Welch\u2019s reelection account. The incumbent said he is \u201cnot focused on that<\/a>,\u201d as you \u201ccan\u2019t buy credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t buy experience,\u201d Welch said. \u201cYou can\u2019t buy being on the ground and leading a city from the most impactful two hurricanes it\u2019s ever had, and moving two million cubic yards of debris in nine months \u2013 more than the last three hurricanes combined, times five.\u201d<\/p>\n Welch believes he would not have any challengers if the Tampa Bay Rays had not exited arduously negotiated agreements to redevelop the Gas Plant, which is currently home to Tropicana Field. He also noted that in 2021, he competed against eight other mayoral candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to run on my record,\u201d Welch said. \u201cWe\u2019ve done things as an administration that no other administration has done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Ken Welch, surrounded by family and supporters representing dozens of various organizations, officially filed paperwork Monday morning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-141211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}