Ken Welch Re-Election Bid Gains Key Endorsements

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is building a coalition of political heavyweights and public safety unions behind his re-election campaign, with his team spotlighting a fresh round of endorsements from elected officials, civic leaders and community figures who say the city needs steady leadership heading into a consequential four-year stretch.

The Welch campaign announced backing from state Rep. Michele Rayner, a St. Petersburg Democrat, along with former Tampa Democratic Sen. Arthenia Joyner and former St. Petersburg Mayor Copley Gerdes. Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers and City Council member Deborah Figgs-Sanders also signed on. On the labor front, both the St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters and the Police Benevolent Association are throwing their weight behind the incumbent.

Welch took office in 2022, becoming the city’s first Black mayor, and has since anchored his administration around neighborhood investment, economic opportunity and what his team calls inclusive growth. The endorsers are pointing to three areas in particular: storm recovery, housing affordability and the high-stakes redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District.

Gerdes, who sat in the mayor’s chair before Welch, offered pointed praise for how the administration managed the fallout from recent storms. “In moments of crisis, residents need leadership that is calm, capable, and focused on results,” Gerdes said in a campaign press release. “Ken Welch has brought exactly that to St. Petersburg’s storm recovery efforts, working to help neighborhoods recover and ensuring the city comes back stronger.”

The Historic Gas Plant District sits at the center of Welch’s legacy and his political vulnerability. An agreement to redevelop the site with the Tampa Bay Rays collapsed during his administration, a development that critics could use against him. But allies close to Welch have placed the blame squarely on the franchise, and endorsers like Figgs-Sanders are framing his navigation of that fallout as a strength rather than a stumble.

Figgs-Sanders, who represents constituents with deep ties to the historically Black community displaced to make way for Tropicana Field, said the project demands a leader with a particular kind of awareness. “The Historic Gas Plant District calls for a steady hand that understands both the weight of the past and the stakes of the future,” she said. “Ken Welch has approached that work with care, accountability, and a real commitment to honoring the community’s legacy.”

The district represents more than a real estate deal. For decades, the site has carried the weight of a broken promise to Black residents who lost homes and businesses when the city cleared the land for stadium construction. Welch, who has personal connections to that history, has made keeping faith with displaced families a defining theme of the redevelopment push.

Flowers, a Pinellas County Commissioner, cast the upcoming election in broad terms, arguing that the city’s decisions over the next four years will shape its trajectory for a generation. She cited economic opportunity, environmental resilience and housing affordability as the defining tests ahead. “Mayor Ken Welch has faced each challenge with a focus and sheer tenacity required of a change agent leader,” she said.

Flowers added that the next term will be critical to delivering on digital-economy jobs, coastline resilience and affordable housing for residents most at risk of being priced out of the city.

Welch said the wave of support reflects a broader alignment around thoughtful, forward-looking leadership for St. Petersburg.

The endorsements land as South Florida and the broader Tampa Bay region continue sorting through the political and physical aftermath of storm seasons that have tested local governments across the state. In that context, incumbents with storm recovery records are leaning heavily on the argument that this is not the moment to change horses.

Welch faces re-election in a city that has grown faster and more expensive than many longtime residents anticipated, and where the pressure to deliver on historic promises to displaced Black communities runs alongside urgent demands for affordable housing and climate preparedness. His endorsers are betting that his record and relationships make him the right person to manage all of it at once.