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<\/a><\/p>\nThe more salient question at this early point in the race seems instead to be whether Crist of Welch will win outright in August by securing more than 50% of the vote, or face a runoff in November.<\/p>\n
Until then, let\u2019s look at takeaways from the most recent finance reports.<\/p>\n
Not a lot of financial buy-in for Welch <\/p>\n
Welch not only failed to bridge the gap between his fundraising and that of the political committee supporting Crist, he allowed it to grow, with Welch\u2019s cash on hand now sitting at just $193,000. Crist, meanwhile, maintains nearly all of the $1.2 million his committee has raised.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Welch failed to show broad support from a variety of donors, particularly to his political committee.<\/p>\n
Crist\u2019s St. Pete Shines<\/a> not only brought in significantly more than Welch\u2019s St. Petersburg Progress<\/a> PC, Crist notched well over 100 unique contributors. Those range from big buy-ins like $50,000 from Seminole Gaming, $30,000 from the Down Ballot Democrats PC, $25,000 from Ballard Partners and more, to smaller-dollar donors hailing from real estate, health care, hospitality and other sectors.<\/p>\n In all, Crist\u2019s Q1 report shows 161 contributions, with a few repeat donors and just two in-kind contributions. Welch\u2019s PC has just 17 contributions. Excluding repeat donors and in-kind contributions, combining donations hailing from the same household, and leaving out donations less than $1,000, that number drops to just nine.<\/p>\n That is a remarkably small showing of support for an incumbent Mayor, and much of the support he did receive is likely a combination of obligatory and hedging. Monied interests, such as developers, often donate heavily to incumbent leaders, sometimes even donating to more than one candidate in the same race.<\/p>\n For Welch, he managed to grab $25,000 from the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>, a donation likely just as much about maintaining a relationship with Welch through the remainder of his term and ensuring good grace should he be re-elected.<\/p>\n Likewise, Welch\u2019s donors included developer John Catsimatidis and his wife, Margo Catsimatidis. Together, the couple kicked in $25,000.<\/p>\n In fact, of the $188,060 Welch raised to his PC from the beginning of the year through March, $85,000 of it was transferred from Welch\u2019s previous PC, the Pelican Political Action Committee.<\/p>\n And that brings up another embarrassing takeaway for the incumbent: He can\u2019t seem to get his operations in working order. Welch is now on his third political committee since his first mayoral election, with the first being revoked by the state over repeated filing failures, and the second voluntarily abandoned after a Treasurer stole more than $200,000 from it.<\/p>\n This was the first filing for his current PC, and already there was a glaring error. The Q1 report initially listed the $85,000 transfer as being from the Pelican PAC, when in reality it came from the Pelican Political Action Committee. Granted, it was likely nothing more than a scrivener\u2019s error made by shortening Political Action Committee to its acronym. However, anyone working for Welch should have understood that there were two similarly named committees and taken steps to be more clear.<\/p>\n And indeed, since the report was filed last week, it has since been amended to reflect the correct committee transfer.<\/p>\n Where would Welch be without the Rays?<\/p>\n The Tampa Bay Rays cut a $25,000 check to Welch\u2019s PC (the most recent one, it\u2019s worth noting) and the team\u2019s CEO, Ken Babby, personally donated $1,000 to Welch\u2019s campaign. All things considered, it\u2019s probably seen as a good ROI for the team considering that under Welch\u2019s tenure, the city spent more than $60 million to get Tropicana Field back into shape after the 2024 hurricanes, including Hurricane Milton, which blew most of the stadium\u2019s roof off.<\/p>\n Never mind the dollars and cents of it, there\u2019s also the team\u2019s past support. It likewise donated heavily to Welch in his 2021 campaign, and there was an ROI there too. Prior to Hurricane Milton\u2019s driving winds, Welch had been on track to accomplish what many of his predecessors did not: build a new stadium.<\/p>\n Now, he might have $26,000 in Rays money, but the legacy he was building even just a couple years ago is all but shattered.<\/p>\n Gabbard better hope her kickoff is lucrative<\/p>\n Gabbard, a sitting City Council member, should have showed up on her first campaign finance report sending a message. And she did \u2014 but it was the wrong message.<\/p>\n Instead of proving she had the chops to hang in what will no doubt be an expensive mayoral battle, Gabbard closed out Q1 with pretty low numbers. Gabbard raised just over $4,000 to her campaign and another $7,000 to her committee, Forward Together PC<\/a>, which has raised just $10,700 since it was launched last July. Between the two accounts, she has less than $12,000 on hand.<\/p>\n Gabbard is clearly not ruling herself out, and I\u2019ll be gracious enough for now. But if she\u2019s going to be even slightly competitive in this race, she\u2019s going to have to show some major progress in the next round of finance reports, due July 10.<\/p>\n Gabbard kicked off her race<\/a> last week, after Q1, meaning whatever she raised at that event won\u2019t be clear until the Q2 reports are in. If there\u2019s not significant improvement in that report, Gabbard\u2019s campaign may prove to be a nonstarter.<\/p>\n Large had a better showing than expected<\/p>\n Large perhaps has 99 reasons to challenge Welch, and partisanship ain\u2019t one. While the two support opposing political parties, it was under Welch\u2019s tenure the former Fire Chief faced accusations of racist and sexist comments. It was Welch who placed him on leave<\/a> while investigating the accusations. And while Welch ultimately reinstated Large<\/a>, the damage was done, and whisper campaigns continue.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Florida-Politics_728x100-1.png\")
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