Political committee expected to support Charlie Crist for St. Pete Mayor surpasses $1M raised

St. Pete Shines, the political committee supporting Charlie Crist should he decide to run for St. Pete Mayor, has surpassed $1 million in total fundraising, according to committee officials.

St. Pete Shines Chair Michelle Todd Schorsch said the committee surpassed the $1 million mark over President’s Day Weekend, which is less than three months after the committee’s formation in mid-November.

The number is not documented in official finance report filings because they only reflect activity through the end of 2025. Reports covering the first quarter of 2026 are due April 10 and will further outline the political committee’s raising and spending.

As of Dec. 31, the most recent date for which official reports are publicly available, the committee had raised more than $725,000. The committee said that since the new year began, it has raised more than $280,000.

“The excitement for a new vision and direction for our beloved city is palpable among the many donors to St. Pete Shines,” Todd Schorsch said. “We are incredibly grateful to all of those who share our hope for a brighter tomorrow for St. Pete.”

The committee’s self-reported six-week fundraising total of about $280,000 is more than incumbent Mayor Ken Welch raised from April through December last year and is about the same as Welch raised for his committee, The Pelican Political Action Committee, throughout the year.

Compounding the disparity, Welch’s committee suffered an alleged theft of $207,000, wiping out all but about $75,000 of its entire 2025 earnings. The committee entered 2026 with just over $30,000 on hand. Welch is now using a different political committee, St. Petersburg Progress, created after the theft was reported from his previous committee. It’s the third committee that has supported Welch since his first mayoral bid. The first, Pelican PAC, was revoked by the state for repeatedly failing to file required reports.

Todd Schorsch said the committee’s first major fundraiser, held Feb. 10, attracted a bipartisan crowd of more than 100 people and brought in more than $48,000, the amount Welch’s previous political committee raised throughout the entire fourth quarter of 2025.

Crist has not yet filed to run for Mayor, and has not officially said he will, but his bid is considered all but imminent among St. Pete political watchers.

So far, only Welch and former candidate Maria Scruggs have filed for this year’s Mayor’s race. St. Pete City Council member Brandi Gabbard and Shore Acres neighborhood association President Kevin Batdorf have both said they intend to run. Former St. Pete Fire Chief Jim Large has also said he’s mulling a bid.

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Ed. Note — Michelle Todd Schorsch is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.