Poll: Charlie Crist leads Ken Welch by nearly 14 points in St. Pete Mayor’s race - EUROPE SAYS
A newSt. Pete Pollssurvey commissioned by Florida Politics shows former Gov. Charlie Cristopening a lead over incumbent St. Petersburg MayorKen Welch, though a substantial portion of voters remain undecided. . .
A newSt. Pete Pollssurvey commissioned by Florida Politics shows former Gov. Charlie Cristopening a lead over incumbent St. Petersburg MayorKen Welch, though a substantial portion of voters remain undecided with less than a month left before Election Day. Crist receives close to 31% support on the poll’s initial ballot test, nearly 14 percentage points ahead of Welch, who receives 17% of support. More than a quarter of likely voters, 26%, initially say they are unsure or undecided. St. Petersburg City Council MemberBrandi Gabbardpolls in third with 11%, followed by former St. Petersburg Fire ChiefJim Largeat 9%. Former Shore Acres Neighborhood Civic Association PresidentKevin Batdorfreceives nearly 4%, whileMaria Scruggsdraws just over 2%. Crist’s advantage widens after undecided respondents were asked which candidate they were leaning toward. With those voters included, Crist rises to 34. 5%, compared with 18% for Welch, 12% for Gabbard, 9% for Large, 4% for Batdorf and 2% for Scruggs. Another 20% remain undecided even after being asked which way they lean. The former Governor also leads decisively in a two-way test that could resemble a General Election runoff. Crist receives more than 44% to Welch’s 28%, while 28% remain undecided. Crist leads among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters in that matchup. Among Democrats, he leads Welch 44% to 36%. His advantage is wider among Republicans, 46% to 23%, and independents, 44% to 21%. The poll also found that 44% of voters favor Crist, compared with 28% who favor Welch, in a head-to-head matchup. The remaining 28% of voters remain undecided. The racial breakdown presents a more detailed head-to-head matchup picture. Crist leads Welch 52% to 23% among White voters, while Welch maintains a 47% to 19% advantage among Black voters. The candidates are tied at 35% among Hispanic voters, though that result is based on only 17 respondents. Crist also leads among men and women and in every age group measured in the two-way test. His strongest performance is among voters age 70 and older, who favor him 52% to 31%. The results reflectsimilar findings to earlier polling, at least showing that Crist and Welch remain the front-runners in the race. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the Aug. 18 Primary, the two leading candidates will advance to the Nov. 3 General Election. St. Pete Polls conducted the survey July 18 for Florida Politics using a combination of automated telephone calls and manual peer-to-peer text messages. The survey included 379 likely St. Petersburg voters and was weighted by political party, race, age and gender. It has a margin of error of 5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. ___Ed. note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics. Tags:2026 electionsamericaBrandi GabbardCharlie CristgeopoliticsJim LargeKen WelchKevin BatdorfMaria ScruggsPoliticspollingst petersburgSt. PeteSt. Pete PollsSt. Petersburg electionsSt. Petersburg mayorUnited Statesunited states of americaUnited States PoliticsUSUS PoliticsUSAusa politics