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Omar Khan to shepherd Rick Kriseman campaign during final weeks

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

To usher in the final weeks of the St. Petersburg mayoral race, incumbent Rick Kriseman is calling in a political heavy hitter — veteran Democratic consultant Omar Khan.

Kahn is joining the Kriseman campaign as a senior adviser.

“I have known Mayor Kriseman for years and have always valued his work and dedication to the people of St Petersburg,” Khan tells FloridaPolitics.com. “I am very excited to join an already strong team to help reelect such an outstanding public servant.”

An alum of the Barack Obama administration, Khan previously served as Assistant Federal Trade Representative for intergovernmental and public engagement. Before that, he was Director of Public Engagement for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Director of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations for the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Task Force.

As for his various political campaigns, Khan worked as National Associate Political Director for Obama’s 2012 re-election effort and held various leadership roles in the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign throughout several states.

Locally, Khan managed Charlie Crist‘s 2014 gubernatorial bid; he first rose to prominence by helping former state Rep. Charlie Justice win a highly competitive 2006 state senate race in Pinellas County. Khan recently teamed up with Democratic businessman Chris King in support of his bid for Florida governor.

“I love him. He loves Florida,” Crist told The Washington Post in 2014.

The one-time University of South Florida student body president began his political career as a congressional intern for U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and is a recipient of the Washington Center Diversity Leadership Scholarship.

Khan also serves as a Senior Vice president for the public strategy firm Mercury based in its New York office.

Kriseman faces former Mayor Rick Baker, a Republican, in a contentious campaign that took a brief hiatus last week as St. Pete dealt with the aftereffects of Hurricane Irma. Mail ballots are scheduled to go out Oct. 3 — one week from Tuesday. Election Day is Nov. 7.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.

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