{"id":384157,"date":"2026-08-29T02:50:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T02:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/384157\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T02:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T02:50:44","slug":"in-first-report-since-primary-charlie-crist-grows-already-commanding-fundraising-lead-over-ken-welch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/384157\/","title":{"rendered":"In first report since Primary, Charlie Crist grows already commanding fundraising lead over Ken Welch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Gov. Charlie Crist has added to what was already a commanding cash-on-hand advantage over incumbent Ken Welch, as the two barrel toward the November General Election for St. Petersburg Mayor.<\/p>\n

In the period covering financial activity Aug. 15-21, Crist\u2019s affiliated political committee, St. Pete Shines<\/a>, raised $41,300. Welch\u2019s PC, St. Petersburg Progress<\/a>, raised just $1,000 in the same period.<\/p>\n

Crist\u2019s cash-on-hand total for his PC is now nearly $275,000. Welch\u2019s PC retains less than $9,000, a difference of about $266,000.<\/p>\n

Campaign finance reports<\/a> for the candidates\u2019 official campaigns are not due until Sept. 4 and will include financial activity covering Aug. 14-28.<\/p>\n

As of Aug. 14, Crist also had a cash advantage in campaign funding, with more than $65,000 on hand. Welch carried just about $23,000.<\/p>\n

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

The reports highlight a growing challenge for the incumbent, who faces a difficult path to victory in November. Welch finished second in the Aug. 18 Primary Election, nearly 15 points behind Crist.<\/p>\n

A Tampa Bay Times analysis<\/a> of election results found Crist finished no worse than second place in all of the city\u2019s 84 precincts, while Welch fared no better than third place in 70% of the city\u2019s precincts.<\/p>\n

Crist has also capitalized on endorsements from defeated opponents, including Kevin Batdorf<\/a> and Maria Scruggs<\/a>. Jim Large, who finished third, has said he won\u2019t endorse in the General Election. Brandi Gabbard, a City Council member who finished in fourth place in the mayoral Primary, has not announced whether she plans to back a candidate in the General.<\/p>\n

Overall, Crist has been a prolific fundraiser this election cycle. His committee has raised more than $1.9 million to date, while his campaign has brought in more than $132,000. Welch\u2019s PC has raised nearly $407,000, while his campaign has brought in less than $64,000.<\/p>\n

While fundraising is not the ultimate determinant of election winners and losers, it plays a significant role, especially when an incumbent faces significant challenges, as Welch has. Resources are needed to ensure messaging reaches voters, and as a candidate who saw more than 79% of voters cast ballots against him less than two weeks ago, Welch\u2019s path to victory<\/a> will require significant voter outreach, likely beyond door-knocking and phone banking.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Gov. Charlie Crist has added to what was already a commanding cash-on-hand advantage over incumbent Ken Welch,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3347,2346,202,204,3303,18455,203,37378,199,201,200,102069],"class_list":["post-384157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-charlie-crist","tag-ken-welch","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-mayors-race","tag-st-pete-mayoral-election","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-pete-shines","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-st-petersburg-progress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384157","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=384157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}