ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Pete will soon have a new mayor after Charlie Crist beat incumbent Mayor Ken Welch Tuesday night.
"I'm humbled, I'm grateful, I love St. Pete and I love St. Petersburg’s people more than anything," said Crist at his watch party Tuesday night.
Crist will soon become the mayor of St. Petersburg, after beating incumbent Mayor Ken Welch with 62% of the vote.
"We will do what’s right for the city," said Crist.
And with a new mayor comes many questions about what the future holds for the city.
Crist has focused on affordability and reducing government spending during his campaign.
Residents in St. Pete voiced what they want to see from the new mayor.
"We have to rely heavily on what our resiliency efforts look like, so living shore lines, green roofs, living wells, all that fun stuff," said Kirsten Hutchings.
Kirsten Hutchings, who runs a nonprofit thrift store called The Blue Urban Project, wants to see a focus on the environment.
“We have a lot of development going on in the city where we normally had green space and green land. Even if there wasn’t anything on it, it was still green space,” Hutchings said.
She also wants to see more affordability. It’s something Nicole Gebler agrees with.
“Actual affordable housing … not housing that is brought on by big corporations, not people who don’t live in this community, not sky-rises … actual affordable housing with rents under a thousand dollars, where people can afford to live in them,” Gebler said.
Another big topic is the Tampa Bay Rays, who are supposed to move to a new ballpark in Tampa in 2029.
“I think we need to keep the baseball team because of the fact that we have so many small businesses that depend on that money coming in from the people who visit our state,” Gebler said.
It’s something Crist said he’s focused on.
“I’m a never-give-up kind of guy, and I’m gonna try … they need to stay here. We built a stadium. It’s like the Field of Dreams movie with Kevin Costner come to life,” Crist said.
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Casey Albritton is dedicated to telling your stories throughout South Pinellas County. From St. Petersburg to Largo, she’s there to share the triumphs and struggles of the community she calls home. So, let Casey know about the stories that matter to you.
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