With the hire of a campaign manager earlier this week, Rick Kriseman‘s re-election campaign is in full swing, more than seven months before Election Day.
Four members of the St. Petersburg City Council — Chair Darden Rice along with Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, Amy Foster and Charlie Gerdes — announced Wednesday that they are endorsing the mayor.
“Councilmembers Rice, Wheeler-Bowman, Foster, and Gerdes have been great allies for progress on our city council,” Kriseman said in a statement. “I have worked closely with each of them to fund solutions to our infrastructure challenges, move the new Pier forward, keep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Pete, and bring economic opportunities to South St. Pete. They are dedicated to making our entire city a better place to live, work and play.”
“Mayor Kriseman cares,” said Rice, who introduced the mayor at the campaign kickoff event for his re-election in late January. “We don’t always agree, but we always find solutions to the biggest challenges facing our city. With the mayor’s leadership, we have taken action on significant issues that past administrations looked past or did not solve.”
“I have worked side-by-side with the mayor to fight for my district” added Wheeler-Bowman, the Council vice-chair. “I especially applaud Mayor Kriseman’s leadership on public safety. From hiring Anthony Holloway to be our police chief to identifying the funds for a new station to bringing back community-oriented policing and working to keep the wrong guns out of the wrong hands, I trust the mayor’s vision for our future.”
Kriseman’s campaign announced earlier this week that he has raised $260,000 so far in his campaign, giving him a substantial head start against his opponents.
Three people — Paul Congemi, Jesse Nevel and Anthony Cates III — have announced their candidacies. All eyes remain fixated on whether former Mayor Rick Baker will enter the contest. Baker has said he is considering a run.
