Kenneth T. Welch is the Mayor of St. Petersburg. The mayor runs St. Petersburg’s day-to-day government as its chief executive, proposing the city budget, hiring department heads and signing or vetoing what City Council passes. It is a full-time strong-mayor job, so decisions on police, sewers, parks, permitting and big deals like the Gas Plant/Tropicana Field redevelopment land on this desk.
Term ending January 2027; on the ballot November 3, 2026
Notes
Goes by Ken Welch. Seeking a second term but finished second in the Aug. 18, 2026 primary with about 20% to Charlie Crist’s 35%; the two meet in a Nov. 3 runoff. City elections moved to even years, which stretched his first term past the usual four years.