ST. PETERSBURG | On Nov. 7, St. Petersburg re-elected incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Election night returns indicated that of the ballots cast, Kriseman received 51.62 percent of the vote. Behind him, former St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker.
The race for St. Petersburg’s mayor, decided this evening, was officially non-partisan – though in today’s polarized political climate, it was anything but. As Watermark has reported, Kriseman is an outspoken Democrat and is a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, something he gladly discussed with us ahead of the election.
Baker, by contrast, is a Republican who has found himself at odds with the LGBTQ community for much of his political career. He did not respond to our requests for comment.
“We ran a very vigorous race that we can all be very proud of,” Baker conceded. “We were honest in our dealings… we left nothing on the field. Unfortunately, we fell short tonight.”
This month, under Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg received a perfect score of 100 for a third consecutive year in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Municipal Equality Index.
“I’m so proud to be your mayor,” Kriseman said during his victory speech. “There’s no better job than public service and there are no better people than right here in St. Pete.”
“We can now move forward,” Kriseman said as supporters cheered. “We can now finish what we started.”
