Election Day turnout in St. Pete slow so far amid resurgent pandemic
Image via tipster who wants to remain anonymous.

Mail ballots returned were on par with four years ago, but in-person voting isn't.

It’s starting to look like voter turnout in St. Petersburg mayoral race may not reach levels seen four years ago the last time the race was on the ballot.

Voter turnout in the 2017 Primary Election, which featured incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman and his top challenger, former Mayor Rick Baker, finished at just over 33%.

To reach that turnout, 63,170 St. Pete voters would need to turn in a ballot this year. As of 12:30 p.m., only about 44,000 residents had voted, leaving about 12,000 more votes needed to match the 2017 turnout.

As of 12:30 p.m., only about 4,200 voters had cast a ballot in-person at one of the city’s polling places.

Of all the votes cast so far, Democrats have returned about 24,000 ballots while Republicans have returned just shy of 13,000. Voters with no party affiliation have returned nearly 7,000 ballots.

Since polls opened, nearly 3,000 Democrats have voted, compared to just over 2,000 Republicans and about 500 independents.

The busiest precincts so far on Election Day are at the Coliseum, Lake Vista Recreation Center, Northside Lodge, Pasadena Community Church, Pinellas Community Church, Roberts Recreation Center and The Gathering Church.

The busiest time of the day on Election Day typically occurs in the early evening as voters return home from work.

Candidates running for Mayor include former Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and City Council members Darden Rice and Robert Blackmon, the top-polling candidates. Also running are former City Council member Wengay Newton, restaurateur Pete Boland, small business owner Marcile Powers, University of South Florida St. Pete student Michael Ingram and community activist Torry Nelson. Write-in candidate Michael Levinson is also running.

Three City Council races are also on the ballot, including a Special Election to replace Blackmon in District 1 and regularly scheduled elections in Districts 4 and 8. City Council races in the Primary are open only to voters within the district. The top two vote-getters in those races will advance to the citywide General Election, at which point Districts 2 and 6 will also be on the ballot.

The top two vote-getters in the mayoral race will also advance to the General Election on Nov. 2. Still, because the Primary is already open citywide, a candidate could forego the General if they receive more than 50% of the Primary vote, an unlikelihood considering the crowded field.

Janelle Irwin Taylor

Janelle Irwin Taylor has been a professional journalist covering local news and politics in Tampa Bay since 2003. Most recently, Janelle reported for the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She formerly served as senior reporter for WMNF News. Janelle has a lust for politics and policy. When she’s not bringing you the day’s news, you might find Janelle enjoying nature with her husband, children and two dogs. You can reach Janelle at [email protected].


One comment

  • Skye

    August 24, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    My neighbor’s aunt makes 62 every hour on the internet..JHG she has been without work for eight months but the previous month her revenue was 15042 only working on the laptop 4 hours a day..

    check this ……>>> http://amazingjobs.tk/

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories