![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/crist-grimes-293x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFormer Florida Gov. and Congressman Charlie Crist formally announced his bid for St. Petersburg mayor today, though with little fanfare \u2013 a small gathering of reporters in place of the usually large campaign-style fanfare that accompanies officially filing for office.<\/p>\n
Crist enters the race with a formidable campaign war chest of nearly $1.2 million, according to public records, though campaign manager Michelle Schorsch said the figure is closer to $1.3 million.<\/p>\n
Those financial numbers dwarf incumbent Mayor Ken Welch\u2019s campaign finances, much of which was allegedly fleeced by Welch\u2019s former treasurer, who presided over his Political Action Committee under the name Yolanda Brown, formerly Yolanda Cheers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mayoral candidate Charlie Crist and his fiance, Chelsea Grimes, outside City Hall Monday afternoon. Photo by Bill DeYoung.<\/p>\n
Questions have swirled over why Crist is seeking a mayoral seat after occupying higher offices during his political career \u2013 what some might consider a step down in political hierarchy. Crist rejected that notion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never consider being in St. Pete a step down. I think it\u2019s a step up,\u201d Crist told the Catalyst. \u201cIt\u2019s the most beautiful city in the world. My family lives here. I grew up here. It\u2019s where I went to high school. I think it\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for St. Pete to move forward faster and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what he could bring to City Hall, Crist pointed to experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter leadership. My experience as governor and a member of Congress, attorney general, commissioner of education \u2026 I think all of that experience can come to bear as the next mayor of St. Pete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cPublic service is in my heart. I\u2019ve dedicated my adult life to it and I\u2019m proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crist\u2019s announcement follows months of speculation over when he would formally enter the race. Most recently, anticipation swirled around Opening Day for the Rays at Tropicana Field, when Crist appeared on the stadium\u2019s big screen in what amounted to a teaser campaign ad, looming over Welch and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor after the two mayors threw out the opening pitch.<\/p>\n
In that ad, Crist teased a run without confirming it, saying, \u201cOur community is facing important decisions about the future of baseball. It\u2019ll be important we have leaders with the right vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, let\u2019s put that aside and cheer on our team,\u201d he had added in the political ad, closing with, \u201cPlay ball!\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether he originally intended to announce during Opening Day went unanswered after he filed at city hall, but Crist told the Catalyst he postponed an announcement because his mother recently died and \u201cthat slowed things down a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crist now enters the mayor race which already includes St. Pete City Council member\u00a0Brandi Gabbard, former city Fire Chief\u00a0Jim Large, former Shore Acres Neighborhood Association President\u00a0Kevin Batdorf\u00a0and perennial candidate\u00a0Maria Scruggs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Florida Gov. and Congressman Charlie Crist formally announced his bid for St. Petersburg mayor today, though with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-248730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248730","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=248730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}