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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Former Gov. and Rep. Charlie Crist filed papers at St. Petersburg<\/a> City Hall on Monday to run for mayor.<\/p>\n “I’m addicted to public service,” Crist said. “This is like the most exciting race ever. This is my hometown. Home is where the heart is.”<\/p>\n Thirty-four years after first representing St. Pete in the state senate, Crist is running for a seventh political office<\/a>.<\/p>\n The backstory:<\/p>\n Crist has served as education commissioner, attorney general, governor and as St. Pete’s member of Congress.<\/p>\n Most recently, in 2022, Crist lost his third governor’s race to Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n On whether he still has a political base in St. Pete, Crist said, “I think so, there’s one way to find out. You’ve got to get on the field and let the people decide.”<\/p>\n Crist says internal polls show him leading incumbent Mayor Ken Welch by five points.<\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Crist says he’s running because, to him, St. Pete is on a hiatus from success.<\/p>\n Crist cites the dissolution of the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 deal with the Historic Gas Plant District<\/a>, which Welch blames on a “twin killing” of storms that ripped Tropicana Field\u2019s roof off and ruined the Rays\u2019 finances.<\/p>\n “The communication just broke apart,” Crist said. “And there’s no way to have success if you don’t communicate with who you’re negotiating with anymore. I’m a communicator.”<\/p>\n In fact, Crist says that if the deal to bring the Rays to Hillsborough County<\/a> doesn’t work, as mayor, he would re-start negotiations with the team to put them once again in the Historic Gas Plant District.<\/p>\n Crist wouldn’t commit to backing any of the current Historic Gas Plant District proposals.<\/p>\n The other side:<\/p>\n Mayor Welch has insisted that the Historic Gas Plant District get off the ground right away, without the Rays<\/a>, and said of Crist’s entry into the race:\u00a0<\/p>\n “Charlie Crist jumping into another race is about as surprising as a toddler asking for snacks, it\u2019s constant, and it\u2019s all about him…. this race is about the future; more housing, stronger infrastructure and real opportunity in every neighborhood \u2014 not indulging another political rerun,” Welch said.<\/p>\n Crist argues Welch is too hands-off, particularly on the city’s marina project<\/a>, and on the fight with the state over murals on public roads<\/a>.<\/p>\n On how far Crist would have pushed the issue with the state and whether he would have risked state funding to keep those murals, he said: “I think you have to risk it. And I don’t think it would be risked. Because, you know, I’m a lawyer. And I understand this relates to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”<\/p>\n By the numbers:<\/p>\n Crist said a plan to have a $600-million bond to pay for stormwater projects should go to a voter referendum, and that the Welch\u2019s affordable housing push has not been up to snuff, saying some of the units are too expensive.<\/p>\n “$800,000 is not affordable for most people in St. Petersburg,” Crist said. “Build something that’s not that expensive. It’s not rocket science.”<\/p>\n With that, Crist is embarking on one more effort to extend a political career that has now taken him from St. Pete, to Tallahassee, to Washington and back.<\/p>\n Is Crist proof that politics must be local? <\/p>\n \u00a0“(I’m now) confined to St. Petersburg city limits, which I love. I think it’s great. I mean, instead of having to go to Miami, or Jacksonville, or Pensacola, you can stay right here at home.”<\/p>\n Crist, who says he will remain a registered Democrat, has posted strong fundraising numbers and is building a campaign staff in this non-partisan race.<\/p>\n Crist did pledge though to support a property tax overhaul, which is something top Republicans in Tallahassee want.<\/p>\n Crist says affordability is likely to dominate the conversation.<\/p>\n Will there be a debate with Mayor Welch? <\/p>\n Crist says, “We’ll see.”<\/p>\n The Source: Information for this story was gathered from an interview with the St. Pete mayor, as well as a mayoral candidate, conducted by FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank.<\/p>\n St. Petersburg<\/a>Politics<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Former Gov. and Rep. Charlie Crist filed papers at St. Petersburg City Hall on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,1157,99,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-250406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-politics","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250406","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=250406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vlcsnap-2026-04-28-19h30m23s549.png\")
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