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Mail ballots go out to St. Pete voters

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections mailed out ballots for the August 29 municipal primary Tuesday to the more than 64,000 voters who have requested them.

On the ballot will be the mayoral primary, featuring Mayor Rick Kriseman, former Mayor Rick Baker as well as Anthony Cates, Paul Congemi, Theresa Lassiter and Jesse Nevel.

The top two vote getters will square off in the November general election unless one of the candidates gets greater than 50 percent of the vote.

Recent polls give Baker a high single-digit lead over Kriseman and put him within striking distance of 50-percent-plus-one. He also has a cash on hand advantage heading into the final leg of the race and recent news about the Kriseman administration’s role in the city spilling 200 million gallons of sewage into Tampa Bay could push Baker over the edge.

If no candidate seals the deal in the primary, though, the top two vote getters will square off in a November general election.

Voters within District 6 will also choose who will take over for term-limited council member Karl Nurse. Candidates in that race include Gina Driscoll, Corey Givens, Maria Scruggs, Eritha Cainion, James Jackson, Justin Bean, James Scott and Robert Blackmon.

Like the mayoral race, if none of the candidates gets more than half the vote, the two candidates with the most support at the polls will be on the November ballot.

St. Petersburg voters can check their ballot status online through the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, or by calling the supervisor’s office at 727-464-VOTE.

Mail ballots can be requested through the Wednesday prior to the election, or can be picked up from the supervisor’s office through the day before the election.

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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