Charlie Crist continues to build a sizable financial advantage over Mayor Ken Welch as the two head toward St. Petersburg’s Nov. 3 mayoral runoff election.
Crist raised nearly $86,000 between his campaign account and affiliated political committee from Aug. 22 through Aug. 28, according to figures released by St. Pete Shines, the committee supporting his mayoral bid. Welch raised just over $15,000.
The difference leaves Crist with considerably more money available for the final two months of the race. St. Pete Shines raised more than $49,000 during the week, compared with $8,500 for Welch’s St. Petersburg Progress committee. Crist’s committee has now raised nearly $2 million since launching, while Welch’s has raised about $415,000, according to the finance documents.
Crist raised nearly $37,000 through his campaign during the latest reporting period, compared with $6,750 for Welch. His campaign has collected $169,298 overall, while Welch has raised $93,630.
Add the two accounts together, and Crist raised nearly six times as much as Welch during the week. Since fundraising began, Crist has collected roughly four times as much between his campaign and committee accounts.
The more immediate difference is what each candidate still has available to spend. St. Pete Shines reported nearly $300,000 on hand, while St. Petersburg Progress had less than $9,000 remaining. When campaign accounts are included, the Crist operation has about 16 times as much cash available as Welch’s, according to St. Pete Shines.
Crist has also begun putting that money into the general election.
St. Pete Shines spent more than $23,000 on campaign mailers during the latest reporting period. Welch’s committee reported $5,000 in communications consulting expenses and more than $3,600 in legal fees, along with credit card fees, according to the release.
The fundraising figures were released by St. Pete Shines.
The financial gap is not new. Crist entered the primary with substantially more money than Welch and the other candidates, spending heavily on television, digital advertising and mail in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 18 election.
Voters subsequently gave Crist a sizable lead at the ballot box in the primary election: about 35% of the primary vote, compared with 20.5% for Welch. Neither crossed the 50% threshold required to win outright, sending the two to a Nov. 3 runoff.
Welch now has to close both gaps. The latest filings show that pace carrying into the following week.
Welch remains the incumbent and has nearly two months to make his case for a second term.