Personal information
- Married to Wendy Holt Foster, parents of two
- Attended Northeast High School, Samford University and Cumberland School of Law
- Worked as an attorney specializing in probate, estates and trusts, real estate, commercial law, real estate and commercial litigation
Political career
- Spent 10 years on the City Council. Was originally appointed to a vacant seat in 1998, and re-elected for two consecutive terms in 1999 and 2003.
- Served as Council Chair in 2004 and 2006.
- Served on St. Petersburg Vision 2020, the Pinellas Assembly, Sunken Gardens Tax Force, Pinellas County Annexation Task Force, Suncoasters of St. Petersburg, the Friends of Weedon Island, the NAACP, and the St. Petersburg History Museum.
- Elected as Mayor of St. Petersburg in 2009.
Positions
- Supports replacing the St. Petersburg Pier: "The people didn’t hire me to make emotional decisions. They hired me to make good safety decisions and to be a good steward of their taxpayer dollars, and from a public safety standpoint it really needs to come down."
- Says one of his biggest distinctions is his experience: "My opponents have the perfect benefit of hindsight and their hindsight is 20/20. And I have a record and I will stand on that record."
- Has a wide-ranging agenda for next four years: "The challenges of those next four years are to build on those successes, really put a stress on public safety and economic development, job creation, neighborhoods, and just create these environments that will help spur private investment we’re seeing that everywhere."