{"id":377681,"date":"2026-08-21T17:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/377681\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:58:14","slug":"a-fire-in-the-belly-bill-foster-bob-ulrich-back-charlie-crist-for-st-pete-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/377681\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A fire in the belly’: Bill Foster, Bob Ulrich back Charlie Crist for St. Pete Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlie Crist is consolidating support from St. Petersburg\u2019s former Mayors as the race turns toward November.<\/p>\n

Former Mayors Bill Foster and Bob Ulrich are backing Crist, joining Rick Baker in support of the former Governor\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Ulrich, who served as Mayor from 1987 to 1991, highlighted Crist\u2019s experience in state government and his return to his hometown as reason for his support.<\/p>\n

Ulrich was dubbed \u201cMr. Sun\u201d in 1998 for his contributions to downtown St. Petersburg\u2019s redevelopment and revitalization, as well as his role in helping bring Major League Baseball to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a unique opportunity as a city. We have someone who has served at the highest levels of state government, and now he has come home, and he has come home with fervor. He has what I call a fire in the belly, and that fire is going to serve the residents of St. Pete very well,\u201d Ulrich said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Foster, who served as Mayor from 2010 to 2014, made a more nuts-and-bolts case for Crist. He highlighted city finances, government efficiency and a desire to keep Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg as reasons for his support.<\/p>\n

Foster dealt directly with the stadium issue during his own tenure, participating in negotiations with the Rays over the team\u2019s future. His administration also worked on Pinellas Safe Harbor and efforts to rebuild the St. Pete Pier, while the city welcomed the Chihuly Collection and the Dal\u00ed Museum underwent a $36 million renovation.<\/p>\n

He also argued Crist\u2019s experience as Attorney General and Governor would translate to running City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to endorse Charlie Crist, my Governor, my friend. He was a terrific Attorney General. He was a terrific Governor, and as I always say, if you can run the fourth largest state in the union, you can certainly take care of the day-to-day operations of the City government,\u201d Foster said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of St. Petersburg will be in good hands. The messaging is clear. It\u2019s budget. It\u2019s efficiency. It\u2019s working smarter, not harder. And it\u2019s keeping the Rays in St. Pete. I\u2019ve reviewed his plans and his messaging, and I think it resonates with the people of the City. I\u2019m excited, and I will entrust the next four years of an incredible City government to this man, my friend, Gov. Charlie Crist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Crist said he was a constituent during both Ulrich\u2019s and Foster\u2019s administrations and credited them with helping shape St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw first hand how their dogged commitment to a better St. Petersburg helped shape our city\u2019s renaissance. I am beyond grateful and extremely humbled that they have chosen to support my vision for a prosperous St. Petersburg. Mayors need coalitions, and ours is growing,\u201d Crist said.<\/p>\n

The endorsements add to Crist\u2019s support following the Primary. Kevin Batdorf, one of four candidates eliminated in Tuesday\u2019s election, endorsed Crist the following day.<\/p>\n

Crist has also earned endorsements from a mix of federal, state and local officials, including U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel and Cheri Bustos, state Sen. Darryl Rouson, state Rep. Allison Tant and St. Petersburg City Council Member Gina Driscoll.<\/p>\n

His supporters also include former Florida Supreme Court Justices James Perry and Peggy Quince, former Senate President John McKay, former House Democratic Leader and Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, former state Rep. Ben Diamond and former Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard.<\/p>\n

Crist has also picked up support from business, faith and community leaders, including Scott Wagman, Gwen Reese and Basha Jordan Jr., among others.<\/p>\n

Crist will look to build on that coalition in November, when he faces incumbent Mayor Ken Welch after finishing first in Tuesday\u2019s Primary.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Ed. note:\u00a0Michelle Todd Schorsch\u00a0is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to\u00a0Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlie Crist is consolidating support from St. Petersburg\u2019s former Mayors as the race turns toward November. Former Mayors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47499,28164,3174,3299,151882,3347,820,3067,2346,72295,3301,202,204,203,199,98044,201,15767,200,3815],"class_list":["post-377681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-2026-elections","tag-allison-tant","tag-ben-diamond","tag-bill-foster","tag-bob-ulrich","tag-charlie-crist","tag-darryl-rouson","tag-gina-driscoll","tag-ken-welch","tag-kevin-batdorf","tag-rick-baker","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-elections","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-mayor","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa-bay-rays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377681","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=377681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}