Rays supporters cast votes in St. Pete mayoral election (with checkbooks)

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The following is cross-posted from Noah Pransky’s award-winning Shadow of the Stadium blog.

While Rays executives aren’t getting active (publicly) in this fall’s St. Pete mayoral race like they have in previous political races, plenty of other local figures are making their support known with campaign contributions.

It’s already been reported that Tampa Council Chairman Charlie Miranda supported Mayor Bill Foster’s re-election campaign with a $100 check for Foster’s “dedication to ensuring that contractual obligations are adhered to.”

But also supporting Foster is developer Darryl LeClair, the Carillon/Mid-Pinellas stadium proponent, who gave the maximum $500 donation.  And Bob Byelick, chairman of the Clutch Hitters, the grass-roots Rays booster club, donated $250.  

Meanwhile, one of Foster’s top threats, Rick Kriseman, has been leading the money race and is closing the gap in the polls as well.  The former St. Pete councilman, who says he’d work out a deal to let the Rays explore Tampa, received $500 from former Clutch Hitters president David Feaster.
 
Kriseman also received $50 from Tampa councilwoman Mary Mulhern and $500 from St. Pete councilman Charlie Gerdes, who crafted thefailed contract amendment that would have opened the door for the Rays to explore Tampa.
And former ABC Coalition spokesman Craig Sher, who has always pushed for regional cooperation on the stadium front, chipped in $500 to Kriseman’s coffer as well.
Many of the donations fall along party lines (Foster is a Republican; Kriseman is a Democrat), so some of the loyalties may not be stadium-driven at all.
 
But there doesn’t seem to be much support among the baseball crowd for former councilwoman Kathleen Ford (also a Democrat).  Ford is the third legit contender for two spots in a mayoral run-off, but trails in fundraising and her most recent finance report showed no signs of any notable names from the many chapters of the Stadium Saga.

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.