ST. PETERSBURG – Ken Welch’s first place win in St. Petersburg’s primary election this week made him the first African American ever to make it to a mayoral runoff in Florida’s fifth largest city.
Though others have run – including Wengay Newton (who placed fourth in Tuesday’s election, with 7% of the citywide vote) – Welch is the first to make it as a final contender in a general election.
He did so with a resounding vote share: the 57-year old St. Pete native won 39% of voters citywide, compared to 28% for his next closest rival, 32-year old Robert Blackmon, who was also born and raised in St. Pete.
Welch’s vote share was even larger in the city’s majority Black precincts, which yielded their biggest vote total ever in a primary election (over 10,200 votes), no doubt driven by both Welch and Newton supporters.
Welch’s vote share in the 19 precincts was 56% compared to 8% for Blackmon, and his win was even bigger in precincts with the highest ratio of Black voters. Precincts where 80% or more of voters are African Americans gave Welch 58% of their vote, versus only 3% for Blackmon.
Welch made history in one other way that deserves a spotlight – especially since it will be key to his victory in November. He won more of the white vote – by far – than any African American candidate before him.
No doubt, African American voters were a key to Welch’s win. Voters in majority Black precincts accounted for 26% of Welch’s backing; their votes made up 92% of his margin of victory over Blackmon.
But note that 74% of Welch’s votes came from St. Pete’s majority-white precincts – a higher share by a yard, compared to other competitive African American candidates for mayor (see graph below).
Welch showed signs of being a true cross-over candidate in pre-primary polling as well. He ranked first or second place with 12 of the 14 race, gender and party groups captured in an August 5th poll release by FloridaPolitics.com. His showing this Tuesday appears to confirm the trend.
Fifty three white men have served as mayor of St. Petersburg since 1892. Ken Welch’s ability to win the support of diverse voters may make him the first African American to become the city’s chief executive.
Reminder: October 4, 2021 is the deadline to register to vote in the November 2 general election. To learn more about the two men competing to be the next mayor of St. Pete, see their profiles on TheBurgVotes.com (Ken Welch and Robert Blackmon).
