Charlie Crist Challenges St. Pete Mayor on Tax Hikes

0:00Charlie Christ, the longtime Florida politician and former governor, just jumped into the St. Petersburg mayor's race. He filed his paperwork Monday afternoon, making him the 7th candidate, challenging incumbent Ken Welch. Turning 70 this July, Christ brings big name recognition, executive chops from his governor days, and over 1,100,000 dollars in campaign cash. Earlier this week, Christ laid out his pitch to voters, calling out Welch for weak leadership that's put the city's momentum on pause. He slammed breakdowns like the stall tempo bay raised talks, scrapping a Moffit Cancer Center deal downtown, and no progress on the marina redo. Plus, property taxes have jumped 50% under Welch, from 148 million in fiscal year 2021 to 200, 29 million in the 2026 budget. Folks in St. Peter filling the pinch, and Christ tapping into that frustration, despite their shared democratic roots, and past mutual endorsements.

1:00He backed Welch in 2021, and Welch returned the favor before Christ's 2022 governor loss. Still, Christ calls Welch a friend, but says many residents share his disappointment. Christ's zeroing in on affordability as his top priority, vowing to review those tax hikes like he did cutting property taxes during the grade. Recession. With strong support for St. Pete Pride, the huge South East LGBTQ festival and stay hands on in crises, drawing from his hurricane response, experience as attorney general and governor, with the primary coming August 18th and a possible runoff. November 3rd, Christ's betting his four decades in office make him the fix St. Pete needs to get moving again. Voters will have the final say. In form with Tampa Bay News today, AI-powered updates, I'm Corey with the story.