Jack Latvala is expanding his appeal as a “hero” with first responders across Florida. On Wednesday, the Clearwater Republican announced firefighters in St. Petersburg, Coral Gables and Indian River County have added their support to his bid to become Florida governor.
The news that Tampa and St. Petersburg will work together to attract the much-sought new Amazon headquarters is exactly what outsiders have been saying for decades this area needs to do. This goes back to when the squabbling sibling cities submitted separate proposals to attract a Major League Baseball team. Baseball bosses rolled their eyes and said this place needs to act as one if it wants to join the league of important cities.
Candidates for St. Petersburg mayor and three City Council races will face off with two city-sponsored forums set for September.
A virtual tie between St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and challenger Rick Baker in a mayoral primary Tuesday has left Florida Democrats giddy and Republicans groping for ways to rebrand their candidate. Baker, a Republican former mayor who remained wildly popular years after leaving office, led Kriseman in polls and fundraising throughout the campaign.
St. Petersburg’s “battle of the two Ricks” is not over yet. Voters have made their choice in the primary, advancing former two-term Mayor Rick Baker and first-term Mayor Rick Kriseman to the November election. Baker led for most of the evening Tuesday; but in the end, he slipped behind with 48.23 percent of the vote (27,253 ballots cast); Kriseman, the incumbent who trailed the race consistently in both fundraising and polling, took a slight lead with a much-better-than-anticipated 48.36 percent…
On the day before St. Petersburg’s mayoral and City Council District 6 primaries, nearly 34,000 ballots have already been cast. Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark posted updated vote-by-mail numbers showing that, as of Monday morning, 67,820 mail ballots have been sent, with just under 50 percent – 33,896 – have returned. By party, 16,383 Democrats, 11,823 Republicans and 5,690 NPR/other have cast votes. With mayoral-only ballots, as of Friday, 29,842 have returned of the 59,000 mailed (just under…
In one week, St. Petersburg residents will know whether Rick Baker is returning to City Hall for a third term as mayor or if incumbent Rick Kriseman lives to fight another day. Whether Baker wins the August 29 primary outright is really the only drama left to unfold in what has turned out to be, at least compared to the previous two mayoral races, an anticlimactic affair.