Look for former Governor Charlie Crist to endorse Rick Kriseman for St. Petersburg Mayor during a Monday morning press conference. An event is planned for 10 a.m. at Wildwood Recreation Center in Midtown St. Pete.
In December, Crist switched parties from Republican to Democrat and has spent the time since attempting to earn his progressive bona fides. Last week, he endorsed Amanda Murphy, the Democratic candidate in the special election for House District 36.
Kriseman is locked into a close race with incumbent Bill Foster. A recent poll by the Tampa Bay Times showed the two candidates separated by less than one point.
It’s not clear how Crist’s support will impact the race, although the expected 2014 gubernatorial candidate remains a popular figure in the city. A survey last year showed Crist to be the runaway favorite of residents in a hypothetical race for St. Petersburg Mayor between Crist, former Mayor Rick Baker and incumbent Bill Foster. Crist received more than 48% of the vote in the March survey conducted by St. Pete Polls. Foster received 26.5% and Baker took 25%.
Crist and Kriseman have not always had the closest of relationships. Kriseman adviser Kevin King is a frequent critic of Crist, although that criticism has died down since Kriseman became a serious contender for Mayor. Still, Kriseman made it a point to tweak Crist at the beginning of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman controversy over the then-Republican’s nomination of NRA chieftain Marion Hammer’s nomination to the state’s Women’s Hall of Fame.
