St. Petersburg City Council Vice Chair Richie Floyd won’t have to campaign for reelection this year. No candidate filed to challenge the District 8 representative before the qualifying deadline, securing Floyd another four years on City Council and making him one of the first candidates in the city to lock down a seat without appearing on the ballot.
“I think it says a couple of things. Politics is often about what you are motivated to accomplish, and I think this says that there was no motivation to accomplish the task of running against me,” Floyd said. “It’s nice to know that generally my district felt strongly about removing me from office.”
Since first winning election in 2021, Floyd has emerged as one of City Hall’s most progressive voices, often pushing conversations around housing affordability, tenant protections, transportation safety and utility policy.
Housing remains at the center of Floyd’s agenda heading into a second term. While St. Petersburg has approved numerous affordable housing projects in recent years, Floyd believes the city should take a larger role in directly shaping housing outcomes rather than relying primarily on private developers.
He pointed to mixed-income communities such as Jamestown Apartments as models he would like to see replicated elsewhere throughout the city.
Tenant protections remain another area Floyd considers unfinished business. “We did really good work on tenants’ issues when I first got elected,” he said. “And I’m pleased with how street safety has been going.”
That work included strengthening the city’s Tenant Bill of Rights and funding legal aid for renters facing housing-related disputes. While some local tenant protections were later preempted by state lawmakers, Floyd said the city still managed to move the conversation forward.
“We funded a program to provide legal aid to tenants, but we only funded legal aid, not rental assistance,” he said. “We made strides, but there’s still more to do.”
Looking ahead, Floyd expects utility policy to become one of the most consequential issues facing residents over the next four years. The city is preparing for a referendum that could increase investment in utility infrastructure, a move that would likely affect rates. At the same time, council members are preparing to review a feasibility to examine whether St. Petersburg could eventually move away from Duke Energy and pursue an alternative utility structure.
Most notably, Floyd has become one of the council’s leading advocates for exploring alternatives to Duke Energy’s hold on the city’s electric service. The feasibility study will be reviewed by council during their June 4 meeting.
City leaders continue grappling with infrastructure challenges exposed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with growing public scrutiny over utility costs, resiliency investments and longterm planning.
Floyd said one lesson from his first term is that governing often looks very different than advocacy from the outside. “I’ve learned a lot about what levers to pull, what’s most effective in getting things done,” he said. “For example, I want to have an impact on pedestrian safety on roads, and consider how to even fund those projects.”
“Even if you’ve been an activist, the day-to-day operation of government is very different than what you see from the outside.”
District 8 encompasses much of central and western St. Petersburg and will remain under Floyd’s representation through 2030.