St. Petersburg, Florida mayoral election, 2013

St. Petersburg mayoral election, 2013

November 5, 2013

Nominee Rick Kriseman Bill Foster Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 29,687 23,412 Percentage 55.91% 44.09%

St. Petersburg Mayor before election Bill Foster Republican Elected St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman Democratic

The 2013 St. Petersburg Mayoral Election took place on November 5, 2013 to elect the Mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. A non-partisan primary election was held on August 27, 2013. No candidate won a majority of the vote, so the top two finishers, incumbent Mayor Bill Foster and former State Representative Rick Kriseman, advanced to a runoff.

After a campaign described as "nasty", "partisan", "contentious" and "the costliest in [St. Petersburg] history", Foster lost to Kriseman by 56% to 44%, becoming the first incumbent Mayor of St. Petersburg to lose a race for re-election in more than 26 years.

Adam C. Smith of the Tampa Bay Times wrote that although 70% of voters approved of where the city was heading and Foster was "a good man who presided over no corruption scandal, no violent racial unrest", he only proved to be "adequate" at the job. He also "underestimat[ed] voters' intelligence, talking about a secret plan to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg", had an "ever-shifting" position on the St. Petersburg Pier and alienated African-American voters in Midtown. Kriseman, Smith wrote, capitalized on this to win "considerable" African-American support and ran as a "safe, credible alternative for those unimpressed with the incumbent", promising to govern like popular former Mayor Rick Baker.

Primary election

Candidates

• Anthony Cates III
• Paul Congemi, candidate for Mayor in 2009
• Kathleen Ford, former city council member
• Bill Foster, incumbent Mayor
• Rick Kriseman, former State Representative

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Foster (R)	Rick Kriseman (D)	Undecided
St. Pete Polls	February 18, 2013	690	± 3.4%	38%	34%	28%

Results

St. Petersburg Mayoral primary election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Foster	20,336	40.63
	Democratic	Rick Kriseman	19,470	38.9
	Democratic	Kathleen Ford	9,648	19.27
	(unknown)	Anthony Cates III	376	0.75
	(unknown)	Paul Congemi	225	0.45
Total votes			50,055	100.00

Endorsements

Bill Foster
Elected Officials Rick Scott, Governor of Florida Organizations Pinellas Realtor Organization Tampa Tribune

Rick Kriseman

Elected Officials Charlie Crist, former Republican Governor of Florida and Independent Candidate for Senate in 2010 Leslie Curran, St. Petersburg city council member Paula Dockery, former Republican state senator Dwight Dudley, state representative Pat Gerard, Mayor of Largo Charlie Gerdes, St. Petersburg city council member Charlie Justice, Pinellas County Commissioner Steve Kornell, St. Petersburg city council member Susan Latvala, Pinellas County Commissioner Janet C. Long, Pinellas County Commissioner Bill Nelson, US Senator Karl Nurse, St. Petersburg city council member Darryl Rouson, state representative Alex Sink, former Chief Financial Officer and nominee for Governor in 2010 Organizations Tampa Bay Times

Runoff election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Foster (R)	Rick Kriseman (D)	Undecided
St. Pete Polls	October 24, 2013	1,397	± 2.6%	42.6%	48.3%	9%
Braun Research	October 17–21, 2013	809	± 3.4%	34%	40%	19%
Braun Research	September 14–16, 2013	410	± 4.8%	39%	40%	16%

Results

St. Petersburg Mayoral runoff election, 2013

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Rick Kriseman	29,687	55.91
	Republican	Bill Foster	23,412	44.09
Majority			6,275	11.82%
Turnout			53,099
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing