St. Pete’s mayoral race goes to general election after candidates fail to secure half the vote

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In a little more than two months, St. Petersburg will have a new mayor. Voters will elect either former County Commissioner Ken Welch or City Councilman Robert Blackmon to occupy the corner office of city hall. 

Neither candidate won 50% of the vote Tuesday night so the race runs on to the general election. Frontrunner Ken Welch (D), brought in just under 40% of the vote.  

Robert Blackmon (R), had a late start to the race. He spent less money than Welch and picked up about 30% of the vote. Both men spent less than other candidates who lost. 

"I think it says the message still matters,’ Welch shared. "The things we were talking about, neighborhood safety, smart growth, affordability, that we retain the authenticity of what made St. Pete great -- that really resonates with the citizens of St. Pete and no amount of money is going to overcome that." 

"I spent the least per vote and to me what that says is what is the job of a mayor – it’s fiscal stewardship, you take in tax dollars and you provide services," Blackmon said. "That’s it. That’s what a mayor does." 

St. Petersburg is made up of about 88,000 democrats, 50,000 republicans and 52,000 independent or third-party voters.  

Both men are running on platforms of fixing and improving St. Pete’s lack of affordable housing, as well as improving crime rates. 

They have both said they are allies to St. Pete’s LGBTQ community and will listen to the science when it comes to handling the pandemic.   

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Welch currently has the endorsements. He is backed by current Mayor Rick Kriseman, a Democrat, and Republican Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.  

Blackmon touts himself as a fiscal conservative who will stay away from national issues, unlike Kriseman.   

Both candidates say their message is about to get louder over the next two months. 

"I just want to do the [best], not for myself or my career, but for the citizens,’ Blackmon commented. "A mayoral candidate should be willing to enrich the city. Not have the city enrich the politician." 

"We are just going to focus on our message just like we did in the primary, folks are tired of the nonsense, and they are going to know what we will do to lead our city forward," Welch stated. 

The general election is Nov. 2.  

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