{"id":387625,"date":"2026-09-01T22:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387625\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T22:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:52:11","slug":"ed-montanari-backs-charlie-crists-experience-and-judgement-for-st-pete-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387625\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Montanari backs Charlie Crist\u2019s \u2018experience and judgement\u2019 for St. Pete Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari is endorsing Charlie Crist for Mayor, citing his ability to be a strong steward of taxpayer funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a fiscal conservative, I believe taxpayers deserve a City Hall that respects their hard-earned dollars and delivers real value in return,\u201d Montanari said. \u201cCharlie Crist has the experience and judgment to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montanari served two terms on City Council after being elected in 2015. Throughout most of his tenure on Council, he also chaired the city\u2019s Budget, Finance and Taxation Committee, putting Montanari at the center of the city\u2019s fiscal decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cFiscal responsibility means setting clear priorities, demanding accountability, measuring results, and never forgetting whose money we\u2019re spending. Taxpayers should be able to see the value they are getting for every dollar entrusted to City Hall,\u201d he said. \u201cCharlie will bring common sense, transparency, and responsible stewardship to City Hall. I\u2019m proud to endorse Charlie Crist for Mayor, and with his strong leadership, St. Petersburg\u2019s best days are yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crist described Montanari as \u201ca true public servant\u201d who \u201cloves St. Pete.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cA distinguished veteran, a wonderful family man, a selfless leader \u2026 I am beyond honored to receive Ed\u2019s backing and support,\u201d Crist added.<\/p>\n

While St. Pete City Council and mayoral elections are nonpartisan, Montanari is a registered Republican, while Crist is a Democrat.<\/p>\n

Crist has been building a strong roster of bipartisan support, including nods from three of the four living past Mayors<\/a> of St. Pete \u2014 Bob Ulrich, Rick Baker<\/a> and Bill Foster, all Republicans. Kevin Batdorf, a local businessman who was defeated in the August mayoral Primary Election, is also a Republican who has endorsed Crist.<\/p>\n

But Crist also has backing<\/a> from his former mayoral opponent Maria Scruggs, a political independent. And a number of Democrats are supporting him, including state Sen. Darryl Rouson<\/a>, state Rep. Allisan Tant, St. Pete City Council member Gina Driscoll<\/a>, Tampa City Council member Charlie Miranda, former Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman, former state Sen. Ben Diamond<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n

The latest endorsement from Montanari adds to a portfolio of support that builds on Crist\u2019s status as front-runner in the race.<\/p>\n

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

Crist was the first-place finisher in the Primary for Mayor earlier this month, finishing with more than 35% of the vote to Welch\u2019s less than 21%. In addition to his nearly 15-percentage-point lead over Welch in the Primary, Crist has built a significant cash-on-hand advantage over the incumbent, and polling suggests an easy win in November.<\/p>\n

In the\u00a0most recent campaign finance reporting<\/a>\u00a0period covering Aug. 15-21, Crist\u2019s affiliated political committee,\u00a0St. Pete Shines<\/a>, raised $41,300. Welch\u2019s PC,\u00a0St. Petersburg Progress<\/a>, raised just $1,000 in the same period. 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>\u00a0for the candidates\u2019 official campaigns are not due until Sept. 4 and will include financial activity covering Aug. 14-28. 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

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

Polls ahead of the Primary showed him with a commanding lead among the entire field of six candidates, and a heavy favorite in a General Election matchup against Welch. A St. Pete Polls survey conducted in late July found Crist leading Welch decisively<\/a>, 45% to 30%, with 25% still undecided in that scenario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari is endorsing Charlie Crist for Mayor, citing his ability to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3347,11338,2346,202,204,3303,18455,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-387625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-charlie-crist","tag-ed-montanari","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-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387625","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=387625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}