Voters face Monday deadline to register for St. Pete General Election

Monday is the last day to register to vote with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office for the St. Petersburg municipal elections, set for Nov. 2.

Up for election includes the Mayor’s Office, four City council districts and seven charter amendments.

Former Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch and St. Pete City Council member Robert Blackmon are the two mayoral candidates. The pair advanced to the General Election after receiving the highest number of votes in the August Primary Elections — Welch grabbed the top spot with 39% of the vote and Blackmon clenched the No. 2 spot with 29%.

The winner of the mayoral race will replace incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman, who is leaving the role due to term-limits. Kriseman has endorsed Welch as his successor.

Financial planner Copley Gerdes and breast cancer awareness advocate and former lobbyist Bobbie Shay Lee will be on the ballot for a chance at the City Council District 1 seat. The race is a Special Election that was scheduled concurrently with the city’s regular municipal races for even-numbered districts, as well as the mayoral contest, to replace outgoing City Council member Blackmon, who resigned to run for Mayor.

The race for City Council District 4 features former prosecutor Lisset Hanewicz and Raymond James executive Tom Mullins. The two are running to replace Darden Rice, who is leaving office because of term limits.

In the District 8 race, Richie Floyd, a local teacher, faces former City Council member Jeff Danner. The candidates are running to replace District 8 St. Pete City Council member Amy Foster, who is also leaving office due to term limits.

The only race to include an incumbent candidate is District 6, with current City Council member Gina Driscoll running against Mhariel Summers.

While voters in the Primary Election could only cast a ballot for candidates within their City Council district, the General Election races will be voted on citywide.

Democrats represent the largest share of St. Pete voters. According to the most recent voter registration data available with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections office, the city of St. Pete has 88,055 registered Democrats and 49,527 registered Republicans.

Lakeland, Winter Haven and Fort Meade also have elections approaching on Nov. 2, with Monday being the deadline to register. Lakeland is voting for a mayor, two Council members and two charter amendments. Winter Haven is choosing one city commissioner and Fort Meade is selecting two.