Pictured Above: There are currently six candidates for mayor in this year’s race.
Courtesy of Darden Rice, Ken Welch, Wengay Newton, Michael Ingram, Marcile Powers and Vincent Nowicki
By Michael Alden
Campaign season has already started for six St. Petersburg mayoral candidates as they wait to see who else enters the race for the Sunshine City’s top office.
Mayor Rick Kriseman, the incumbent Democrat, has served two terms and cannot run for a third term in accordance with the city charter.
The primary election will be held on Aug. 24. If a candidate receives 50 percent or more of the vote, they will be elected as mayor. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, the top two candidates will continue in a runoff election on Nov. 2.
The next mayor will have to address pressing issues pertinent to students, such as the city’s COVID-19 recovery, affordable housing, transportation, equity and the redevelopment of Tropicana Field.
Mayoral races are formally nonpartisan, but party affiliation typically becomes a contentious issue among voters and candidates. Four of the current candidates are Democrats and two are not party affiliated.
Ken Welch, 53, is a member of the Democratic party who served two decades on the Pinellas County Commission. Before his role as a county commissioner, Welch worked as a senior accountant at Florida Power Corp. for 14 years. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of South Florida and holds a master’s degree in finance from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Welch was born and raised in St. Petersburg.
If elected, Welch’s priorities will be the city’s COVID-19 recovery, economic growth for all neighborhoods, affordable housing, sustainability and developing the Tropicana Field site.
Darden Rice, 51, is a registered Democrat currently serving her second term on the St. Petersburg City Council. She was the first openly gay person to run for city office in 2005, a race she lost. Rice ran again and won in 2013 — she was reelected in 2017. Rice is the current chair of Forward Pinellas and a member of the Tampa Bay Water Board of Directors. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American studies from Eckerd College. Rice has been a St. Petersburg resident for nearly 20 years.
“I’m running for mayor because we need bold, new ideas to address our most pressing needs,” Rice said. “As a city councilmember for the past seven years, I’ve been a leader in solving local issues and driving progress in our community. We’re facing difficult times because of the pandemic, but I know we’ll come together to address these challenges and make St. Petersburg an even better city.”
If elected, Rice wants to focus on the city’s pandemic recovery, affordable housing, transportation, equitable economic growth, environmental protection and Tropicana Field site development.
Wengay Newton, 57, is a member of the Democratic party who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. Newton represented District 70, which covers areas of St. Petersburg, Ruskin, Palmetto, Bradenton and Sarasota. He served two terms before deciding to run for mayor. He was elected to the St. Petersburg City Council where he represented District 7, which covers part of central St. Petersburg, from 2008 to 2016. He recently ran for election to the Pinellas County Commission in 2020 but lost in the Democratic primary.
A St. Petersburg native, Newton received an associate degree from International Telephone and Telegraph Technical Institute. He also attended St. Petersburg College and Hillsborough Community College.
If elected, Newton’s goals include strengthening neighborhoods, embracing an education ecosystem, environmental issues, affordable housing, economic opportunities for all and public safety.
Michael Ingram, 20, is the youngest candidate for St. Petersburg mayor in history. He is a political science major at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He is a native of the city and attended St. Petersburg High School. Ingram is a registered Democrat.
Ingram told The Crow’s Nest in November that the primary reason he is running for mayor is that young people are underrepresented in politics.
“Young people aren’t as involved in politics – in voting or in running – and so I am hoping that giving young people a candidate that they can see themselves in will get more people to turn out,” Ingram said. “The average age (of individuals living in) St. Petersburg is 43 and the amount of people who turned out (to vote) under the age of 45 was 18 percent in the last mayoral election.”
If elected, Ingram wants to address issues of homelessness, green energy and environmentally friendly practice, affordable housing and police reform. He also plans to create a “youth government” where young people would elect a “youth city council” and “youth mayor.”
Marcile Powers, 34, co-owns Kenwood Organic Produce with her husband Keevy McAlavay. Powers is a Bradenton native and has lived in St. Petersburg for seven years. She was the campaign manager for Corie Holmes’ run for Manatee County Commissioner in 2012. Powers received a bachelor’s degree in film from the University of Central Florida. She isn’t affiliated with a party.
“Why (am I running)? Because I love breathing clean air, I love going to the beach and swimming in the ocean,” Powers said. “I love the citizens who live here and want them to stay.”
If elected, she intends to address issues of human trafficking, transportation, food forestry, affordable housing, violence caused by police, repairing damages done in the black community due to the drug epidemic, ending chronic homelessness and sewage.
Vincent Nowicki, 28, is a real estate agent who moved to St. Petersburg from Baltimore four years ago and resides in the downtown area. Nowicki isn’t affiliated with a party in Florida.
“With the ever-changing social, political and economic climate, our city is in dire need of strong, future-facing leadership. I am the face of St. Pete’s future,” Nowicki said. “That future hinges on local job creation, responsible development, fiscal accountability, education, and affordable housing.”
If elected, Nowicki’s priorities also include infrastructure, public safety, creating an independent zoning commission, streamlining the permitting process and investing in community policing.
The qualifying period for the mayoral race starts June 3 at 8 a.m. and ends on June 18 at 5 p.m.
Where are the Republican candidates?
Yeah I don’t see any Republicans either and I will not vote for a Demorat!!!
My Ballot says there’s EIGHT PEOPLE RUNNING… Where are the other two?!?!
This was from March, before everyone had announced.