St. Pete Mayor's Race Results: Welch, Blackmon Win Primary

Updated at 10:06 p.m.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The unofficial results for St. Petersburg's mayoral primary election on Tuesday show Ken Welch and Robert Blackmon leading with all 92 precincts reporting, according to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.

According to Vote Pinellas, Welch had 39.41 percent of the votes with 100 percent precincts in, while Blackmon had 28.25 percent of votes. They will face off in the Nov. 2 general election to replace outgoing mayor Rick Kriseman.

"I'm ready to rock, guys," Blackmon said after hearing the results Tuesday night. "But it's not going to be easy. I need for everybody who's been there to be there for me again."

Welch, who had roughly 6,000 votes more than Blackmon in the crowded race, would be the city's first Black mayor if elected.

"The voters of St. Pete have spoken, and I am deeply honored to be headed into November's runoff election," Welch said.

The Vote Pinellas site showed 55,346 votes counted Tuesday, including Election Day and mail-in, which were turned in by 7 p.m., closing time of the polls.

The unofficial results do not include provisional ballots. An example of a provisional ballot is if a voter forgets their identification card, they are still allowed to cast a ballot, but it would be set aside as election officials determine whether the resident was eligible to vote, according to CNN.

Official election results will be certified on Friday, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections said.

St. Petersburg has 189,289 eligible voters, the site said.

Kriseman, who has served as mayor for about eight years, will reach his term limit in November.

Unofficial Election Results For City Of St. Petersburg Council Members:

• District 1: Bobbie Shay Lee won with 33.85 percent of the votes
• District 4: Lisset Hanewicz won with 41.61 percent
• District 8: Richie Floyd won with 51.21 percent

The 2021 St. Petersburg general election is scheduled for Nov. 2. If you are not registered to vote in St. Petersburg, you may do so at Register To Vote website. The voting registration deadline is Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. To find out if you are already registered to vote, visit Florida's Voter Lookup.

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• Systemic Racism In Police Department? St. Pete Mayoral Debate