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Rick Baker announces endorsements from 40 St. Pete pastors and religious leaders

in The Bay and the 'Burg by

The Rick Baker campaign announced Thursday that the mayoral candidate has received endorsements from 40 Midtown and Child’s Park pastors and religious leaders.

“I am deeply honored by the overwhelming support we are receiving in Midtown and Child’s Park. We will continue to work every day to build a Seamless City,” Baker said.

The campaign called the endorsements a sign of “growing momentum” for the former mayor, who is running against incumbent Rick Kriseman and a half-dozen other candidates for the city’s top post.

The St. Petersburg primary election is set for Aug. 29. The two candidates with the most votes in the primary will face off in the November general election, unless one of the candidates is able to get more than 50 percent of the vote.

Baker is the most likely candidate to cross the 50-percent-plus-threshold. Most recent polling has given him a high single-digit lead over Kriseman, and if his upward trend continues he could secure the job next month.

Here’s the full list of pastors endorsing Baker:

Rev. Ben Adams

Pastor Troy Adams

John Anderson

Bishop Designate Al Baldwin

Rev. Brian Brown

Apostle Ledell Carr

Rev. Michael Culbreath

Pastor Rudene Davis

Pastor Thomas Davenport

Bishop Zema Florence

Rev. Aaron Gaskin

Rev. Ronald Gibson

Rev. Mike Hawkins

Pastor Alan Humphries

Rev. James Holt

Rev. Ernest Jones

Rev. Curtiss Long

Rev. Norris Martin

Rev. Alvin Miller

Rev. Earl Mills

Rev. Frank Peterman

Rev. Clarice Pennington

Rev. Keturah Pittman

Rev. Eddie Robinson

Rev. Willie Sands

Rev. Lewis Sherman

Pastor Tony Smith

Dr. Freddie Thomas

Rev. Dr. Wayne G. Thompson

Bishop Gustave Victor

Rev. Charlie Ward

Rev. Robert Ward

Pastor Wayne & Pastor Rhunette Wells

Rev. Ricky Welch

Rev. Thomas Whitlock

Rev. Wayne Wilson

Pastor Margaret Wells

Pastor Alvin Williams

Pastor Taneshia Yancey

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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