Janelle Irwin Taylor
Ed Montanari has officially qualified as a candidate for St. Petersburg City Council.
Montanari is running for District 3 to replace outgoing Council member Bill Dudley.
“Thank you for your continued support and prayers as we embark on a successful campaign,” Montanari wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon announcing he had filed the paperwork.
Tuesday is the first day for City Council candidates to qualify. The last day is June 22. So far, no one has emerged to run against Montanari.
Montanari announced his candidacy in early April. With two months of campaigning under his belt, Montanari has already posted record fundraising numbers.
As of June 1, Montanari had brought in $45,000. It’s the highest first quarter campaign earnings going back to at least 2009.
Montanari has hosted campaign events at Green Bench Brewery and another at his campaign debut event at 400 Beach Seafood.
The commercial airline pilot ran eight years ago for city council against Dudley, but was narrowly defeated. Now Dudley has endorsed Montanari as his replacement.
Dudley isn’t the only one jumping in line to endorse Montanari. City Councilwoman Amy Foster has also given him her seal of approval as have former mayors Bill Foster and Rick Baker.
Montanari is the second city council member to qualify so far. District 7 candidate Lisa Wheeler-Brown filed early Tuesday morning. Her opponent, Aaron Sharpe, told FloridaPolitics.com he would be filing qualifying paperwork on June 19 after a campaign kickoff event the previous day.
