ST. PETERSBURG — The two candidates running to become the next mayor of St. Petersburg — Ken Welch and Robert Blackmon — clashed on various issues in an hour-long forum broadcast Tuesday night on Spectrum Bay News 9.
It was likely the biggest audience the two men will face before the Nov. 2 election.
Welch, 57, the current favorite in the race, is running after serving 20 years on the Pinellas County Commission.
Blackmon, 32, is involved in real estate and has served on the St. Pete City Council since January of 2020.
The fireworks started early in the debate, when the candidates were asked about public safety, as the city has seen an increase in the number of homicides this year.
Moderators at tonight's debate in St Pete mayor's race begin by asking about the high level of homicides in the city this year to date.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
Blackmon took a verbal shot at current Mayor Rick Kriseman (who has endorsed Welch), saying that he “made our police chief take a knee with protesters. To make an African-American man take a knee against his will was wrong.”
.@RobertGBlackmon blasts Rick @Kriseman for "making" Chief Holloway take a knee last year after the death of George Floyd...@KenWelch blasts the comment, says it's condescending to the chief to make such a remark
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
Welch fired back.
“Robert, that is just condescending," he said. "Chief Holloway would not have taken a knee if he didn’t want to. He’s a man, and he made that decision.”
Shortly after that exchange, Ben Kirby, Kriseman’s spokesman, fired off a tweet saying, “Police chiefs across America took a knee in solidarity w/ those protesting George Floyd's murder, but Mayor Kriseman didn't & wouldn't instruct Chief Holloway to take a knee. Chief Holloway is 1 of the nation's most respected police chiefs & Mr. Blackmon's assertion is offensive.”
Housing
On affordable housing, perhaps the crucial issue that everyone on the ballot in St. Petersburg is being challenged on, Welch said that he has a track record based on his tenure on the Pinellas County Commission.
Both candidates get specific on what they would do to create affordable housing, one of the key issues discussed in #StPetersburg this election year.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
“We created a housing trust fund during my chairmanship of the commission that has allowed more than 4,000 units of rental apartments — affordable rental apartments — to folks making $19 an hour and less and have 4,000 people move into their own homes,” he said.
Blackmon said “we need to get people off the rental rollercoaster. What we need to do is allow for home ownership because the only type of true equity is financial equity.”
.@RobertGBlackmon particularly aggressive in this debate..Depending on latest @StPetePolls survey showing him behind, he needs to be.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
Coronavirus
Kriseman and Gov. Ron DeSantis were never in sync over the past year in how the two went about handling the coronavirus pandemic. While many of the governor’s actions angered Democrats, there were also downtown business owners who chafed at some of the restrictions that the mayor imposed in St. Pete.
“I believe the governor’s approach could have been a lot better,” said Welch. “I think that our approach in Pinellas County was based on science. We were working together, and we were working with our friends and colleagues in Hillsborough County as well — the Commission and Mayor Castor — to make sure that we had a science-based approach.
Blackmon’s initially didn’t mention DeSantis in his response. After co-moderator Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times asked again, Blackmon said, “I’m not going to second guess somebody who’s job I’m not running for. And history will dictate whether the decisions made were right or not. You know, right now, our numbers are looking great.”
Candidates are asked how they felt that @GovRonDeSantis handled Covid situation...@KenWelch says he believes it could have been better. @RobertGBlackmon doesn't want to comment specifically on the question, says he's running for local govt, not the governor's race.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
Nonpartisan Election
Although this is officially a nonpartisan race, party politics matter more than ever in local elections in the post-Donald Trump era.
Welch is a Democrat; Blackmon is a registered Republican in a Democratic-leaning city — there are 47% registered Democrats in the city, 28% are voters with no party affiliation and 26% Republican.
A St. Pete Poll survey taken last month showed Welch leading by 17 points in the race, at 53%-36%.
There were numerous jabs and counter-jabs throughout the hour-long forum, with both candidates blasting each other for comments that they have made in the past.
Blackmon also made repeated references to Welch’s extensive endorsement list and the fact that he’s been outraised when it comes to campaign funding.
.@RobertGBlackmon pushing hard on @Kenwelch 20 years at County Commission as being career politician....Welch replies that he's had extensive background in the private sector.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) October 19, 2021
“Who raised the most money is not a metric, it’s who gets the most votes and who cares the most about the people,” said Blackmon. “Who has the most ideas. I’ve been frugal with the dollar, so I don’t need as much money to come into my campaign, because I’m fiscally prudent."
"I don’t make the rules up,” Welch said. “I would love for everyone to be given $50 bucks to go out and give their message and compete. Those aren’t the rules.”
More than 11% of registered voters have already voted by mail, according to the latest information posted on the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website.
The site reported that as of Tuesday, 20,463 people had voted. That breaks down to 10,484 Democrats; 6,226 Republicans; and 3,495 non-party-affiliated votes, with an additional 258 votes coming from other political parties.