Charlie Crist’s St. Pete committee pays two firms listed at the Florida Politics address

Charlie Crist is not running for mayor of St. Petersburg to collect a ceremonial chain. As of Oct. 2 he had nearly $411,000 between his campaign, $156,551, and his political committee, St. Pete Shines, $254,215, against just over $41,000 for incumbent Ken Welch, $13,507 in his campaign and a little less than $28,000 in his committee, St. Petersburg Progress (Florida Politics, Oct. 9; City Clerk G-4 reports). The campaign figures match the City Clerk filings; the committee balances are Florida Politics’ (City Clerk; Florida Politics). After the Oct. 3 to 9 committee reports, Florida Politics puts Crist at nearly $400,000 combined, more than $220,000 in Shines and nearly $173,000 in his campaign, and Welch’s committee at just over $11,000, with his campaign at less than $14,000 as of Oct. 2 (Florida Politics, Oct. 16). The Shines figure fits state records; the Crist campaign figure rests on Florida Politics alone, because as of 7:21 p.m. ET Oct. 18 the City Clerk’s newest posted reports for both men were the G-4s covering Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 (Division of Elections; our arithmetic; City Clerk). The money cast is how a former governor turns city hall into a statewide donor reunion, and what those donors buy proximity to: waterfront parcels, development orders, stadium-adjacency land use, and the Duke Energy franchise fight.

Where the committee’s money goes is its own story. State records show St. Pete Shines has paid $488,189.41 in 47 payments to All Too Strategic and $274,797.05 in 33 payments to Extensive Enterprises, both listed at 204 37th Avenue North, #182, St. Petersburg, for $762,986.46, or 36.7% of its $2,080,371.56 in spending through Oct. 9; from Sept. 12 to Oct. 9, the two firms got $299,754.90 of its $321,906.27, or 93.1% (Division of Elections; our arithmetic). In the newest week alone, Oct. 3 to 9, Shines spent $115,600.27, and on Oct. 9 it paid All Too Strategic $66,386.12 in four payments, for a media buy, text alerts, digital advertising and consulting, and Extensive Enterprises $36,347 for direct mail: $102,733.12, or 88.9% of the week (Division of Elections; our arithmetic). Florida Politics reported the week’s spending as nearly $116,000 without naming the firms paid (Florida Politics, Oct. 16). Florida Politics lists that address as its own and says the site is owned by Extensive Enterprises Media, whose president, Peter Schorsch, is its publisher; the committee lists the same address for itself (Florida Politics; Division of Elections). Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has identified All Too Strategic as Michelle Todd Schorsch’s political consulting business (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay). These are payments, not profits: the records list purposes such as media buys, direct mail, polling and printing, and do not show what either firm kept after ad and postage costs (Division of Elections). Peter Schorsch told Creative Loafing, “I am not a politician. My name is not on the ballot. I am a news publisher” (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay).

Your stake: if you own property in St. Petersburg, Crist proposes cutting the city’s property tax rate by 0.4 mills, which he estimates would return $15 million a year to owners; at $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value per mill, that is $40 a year per $100,000 of city taxable value (Florida Politics; FOX 13; Florida Department of Revenue; our arithmetic). He says he will vote against, and Welch backs, the $600 million infrastructure bond on the ballot, which an additional property tax would pay for (Tampa Bay Times; Florida Politics); the city estimates its broader stormwater projects could take 24 years on the current schedule and about 19 with the bond, and the City Council has approved a 12-member citizen panel to oversee the money if voters approve it (FOX 13; Tampa Bay Times). Both candidates oppose Amendment 3, which the city estimates could cut its property tax revenue by $33 million in fiscal 2028 and $54 million the year after (FOX 13).

The money

For one week, the committee race flipped. In the Sept. 12-18 period, only the committees filed: Welch’s St. Petersburg Progress took in $36,250 and Crist’s St. Pete Shines $22,000, the first time since Crist entered the race that Welch’s committee outraised Crist’s (Florida Politics; the sums match state filings). The swing check was $25,000 from New York billionaire John Catsimatidis on Sept. 16, his third to Progress after $10,000 and $5,000 on March 31; with Margo Catsimatidis’s $10,000 the same March day, the Catsimatidis name is on $50,000 (Division of Elections; Florida Politics). Affordable-housing developer Blue Sky Communities added $10,000 on Sept. 17 (DOE; Florida Politics). Shines spent $33,028 that week, nearly all of it on direct mail, Florida Politics reported in a column by its publisher, Peter Schorsch; state records show $32,547 of that week’s $33,027.90 went to Extensive Enterprises, $30,347 for direct mail and $2,200 for printing, with the rest in payment processing fees (Florida Politics; Division of Elections).

The flip was a one-week blip. From Sept. 19 to 25, St. Pete Shines raised $67,000, nearly 15 times the $4,500 St. Petersburg Progress raised (Florida Politics, Oct. 3). State records list the Shines money, dated Sept. 21 to 25, including $50,000 from Nicholas Peters of Tampa, whose filing lists him as a CEO, on Sept. 24, $5,000 from the committee A Stronger Florida and $2,500 from the committee Before Election’s There’s Help. The Progress money, dated Sept. 22 to 25, is $2,000 from Morgan MacMillan, $500 from Gregg Kenney and $2,000 from the committee Greater Tarpon Springs Justice League (Division of Elections). Crist’s committee spent nearly $68,000 that week, including $36,347 for direct mail to Extensive Enterprises on Sept. 24 and more than $5,000 on text blasts; Welch spent less than $23,000 from his committee, almost all of it on mailers (Florida Politics, Oct. 3; Division of Elections).

The newest week, Oct. 3 to 9, widened it again. State records list 12 contributions to Shines totaling $81,500, the largest $20,000 from the committee New Future Leaders Florida, $15,000 from Rally Real Property Holdco of St. Petersburg, after $5,000 on Sept. 30, and $15,000 from Azalea One of Tampa, and none to Welch’s St. Petersburg Progress, which still shows 63 contributions totaling $465,953 (Division of Elections). Florida Politics reports Welch “didn’t raise a single penny” to the committee that week (Florida Politics, Oct. 16). Progress spent $16,320 on Oct. 6, all of it on strategy and compliance consultants and a law firm, and Florida Politics says none went to direct voter outreach and the committee has just over $11,000 left (Division of Elections; Florida Politics).

The week before, Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, the gap had widened too. Welch raised $9,650 across both accounts, $8,500 to Progress and $1,150 to his campaign, about a tenth of Crist’s take, Florida Politics reports (Florida Politics, Oct. 9; City Clerk). By our arithmetic Crist’s side raised $99,300: $6,725 to the campaign and $92,575 to Shines (City Clerk G-4; Division of Elections). The Shines checks include $55,000 on Oct. 2 from A Resilient Future Florida, Inc. of Tallahassee, a social advocacy organization in the filing; $10,000 from Barbara Stiefel of Coral Gables, her fifth check, $110,000 in all; $5,000 each from Kast Construction Company Florida, Rally Real Property Holdco and Shirl Penney; and $2,500 each from AECOM Technology Corporation and Blue Sky Communities, which also gave Welch’s Progress $10,000 on Sept. 17. Progress’s $8,500 is three checks dated Sept. 30: $4,000 from Tyler Herbert, a Washington, D.C., real estate developer, $2,500 from Marshall Funk and $2,000 from Ryan Griffin (Division of Elections; Florida Politics).

The longer tape still favors Crist. State records show $2,337,350.86 in reported contributions to Shines across 471 contributions through Oct. 9, including a $336,458.16 transfer from Friends of Charlie Crist, $192,000 from Many United Democrats and $36,864.70 in in-kind gifts, against $465,953 across 63 to Progress, including $85,000 from the Pelican Political Action Committee (Division of Elections). The campaign accounts file with the City Clerk: through Oct. 2, Crist’s campaign had raised $244,828.55 and spent $88,277.45, and Welch’s had raised $105,531.00 and spent $92,023.90 (City Clerk G-4 reports, filed Oct. 9 and Oct. 8). Over the cycle through Oct. 2, that is $2,500,679.41 across Crist’s two accounts against $571,484.00 across Welch’s (our arithmetic); Florida Politics, counting differently, put Crist above $2.3 million and Welch at about $560,000 (Florida Politics, Oct. 8), and now says Crist has taken the committee alone past the $2.3 million mark (Florida Politics, Oct. 16). Crist’s campaign report lists 33 maximum $1,000 contributions, including from Rick Baker and Ed Montanari; Orlando trial attorney John Morgan gave $500 (Florida Politics).

The Florida Trib’s Aug. 11 audit is the named-check layer. Ballard Partners, Brian Ballard’s Tallahassee firm (clients include Amazon, Meta, and Florida Power & Light in the Trib’s telling), has now written St. Pete Shines four checks for $70,000: $25,000 in November 2025, $25,000 in February, $10,000 in July, and $10,000 on Sept. 18 (DOE). The Trib’s $60,000 matched the filings on Aug. 11. More than two dozen lobbyists and operatives linked to investor-owned utilities or AI/tech clients added more than $130,000 more. Ballard told the Trib the check was friendship, not client errand. Duke Energy said lobbyist gifts were not on its behalf. Dennis Mehiel of White Plains, N.Y., is in for $20,000 in two checks, Dec. 30, 2025 and Sept. 17, 2026, and Seminole Gaming gave Shines $50,000 on Feb. 12 (DOE). A Tampa Bay Times analysis in July found Republicans and the companies and political committees they control had given more than half a million dollars on Crist’s behalf. Welch says Crist is getting bankrolled by Republicans who are buying the election: “Follow the money. What’s the source of those funds?” (Tampa Bay Times).

Rays money landed on both sides. Rays Baseball Club LLC gave Welch’s Progress $25,000 in March; the Tampa Bay Rays gave Shines $5,145.96 in kind on Sept. 1, described in the state’s export as “FOOD, BEVERAGE, SEATS”; Jeffrey Vinik gave Progress $15,000; and Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties LLC gave each committee $10,000 (DOE). Crist says he is “not giving up” on the Rays, noting no one has broken ground on a Tampa stadium, and that until there are binding contracts and not just memorandums of understanding there is still an opportunity; on the Historic Gas Plant District he says Welch selected one plan and “we will review that with an open mind” (WFLA via SNN). Hillsborough and Tampa approved the definitive development and funding agreement in August (see the Rays story). John Catsimatidis, whom the Times describes as the developer of the 400 Central building downtown, told the Times he had promised Welch the money a while back; he has given to Crist’s past runs but not this one: “I feel funny giving to both at the same time” (Tampa Bay Times).

Michelle Todd Schorsch chairs St. Pete Shines, and Joe Saunders is its treasurer (Division of Elections). That is governance of the war chest, not a footnote. Her husband publishes Florida Politics, the filing spine for much of this race, so this edition checks Florida Politics’ committee figures against state filings and City Clerk reports. We cite 13 Florida Politics articles here; five carry an editor’s note disclosing the relationship, the Sept. 27 column is by Peter Schorsch himself, and the Oct. 16 report on the newest week, bylined Staff Reports, carries no note (Florida Politics). Florida Politics’ Oct. 15 report on Shines’ spending, which carries the note, says the committee “spent more than $66,000 on a media buy and more than $36,000 on mailers” without naming the firms paid; state records name them as All Too Strategic, $66,153 for a media buy on Sept. 28, and Extensive Enterprises, $36,408 for direct mail on Sept. 30 (Florida Politics; Division of Elections). State records also list five Shines payments to Michelle Todd Schorsch herself, $24,089.56 in all, mostly $21,000 marked ad placement on June 9 (Division of Elections; our arithmetic).

Welch’s side carries a theft. Yolanda Brown, former treasurer of the pro-Welch Pelican Political Action Committee, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Pennsylvania, in United States v. Brown, No. 2:26-cr-00362 (E.D. Pa.); the committee had disclosed $207,500 in unauthorized transactions to O’Reilly Business LLC, a company she controlled (Florida Politics, citing a release from Welch’s political operation; CourtListener). She faces up to 20 years, a $250,000 fine, and full restitution. She admitted embezzling about $1 million from 20 clients between 2022 and 2026; prosecutors said she defrauded about 20 clients of more than $1.4 million and had repaid more than $400,000, and Welch reported her after she misappropriated $207,000 from his campaign committee (Philadelphia Inquirer). The $207,500 left the Pelican committee in eight transactions between Aug. 6 and Oct. 30, 2025 (Florida Politics). A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 26 (Philadelphia Inquirer).

How it works

A Florida mayor’s race runs on the same PAC-versus-campaign split as a governor’s race, at smaller dollars and higher land-use leverage. The committee is where Tallahassee lobby shops and UHNW friends park influence. The campaign account is the regulated face. Readers who only watch candidate-account totals miss who can still fund mail and field in October, and who expects a return call on Duke, waterfront entitlements, or stadium-district zoning.

What could still stop it

Money is not the only tape. A St. Pete Polls survey of 419 likely voters, taken Oct. 13, the day of the only televised debate, had Crist at 53% and Welch at 32% with leaners, about 15% undecided and a 4.8-point margin of error; the report does not say who paid for it, and it rests on one outlet, Florida Politics (Florida Politics). No defining moment emerged in the Bay News 9 debate, and both camps declared victory (Tampa Bay Times). Welch said Crist’s tax cut would “be just as harmful to the city” as the Amendment 3 losses Crist opposes (Florida Politics). The city’s planning director wrote Welch that data centers are not a permitted use and “remain prohibited”; Crist has called for a one-year moratorium on data centers and Flock cameras (Tampa Bay Times). Crist finished first in the August primary with 19,447 votes to Welch’s 11,457, and Rick Kriseman’s endorsement completed his sweep of the city’s living former mayors; Mike Harting became the third sitting council member to back him (Florida Politics). Tampa Bay Times chairman Conan Gallaty and Viewpoints editor Graham Brink both chose Crist (Tampa Bay Times). A St. Pete Polls survey of 509 likely voters on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 had Crist 52%, Welch 27%, with 24% approving of Welch’s job performance; the article does not say who sponsored it (Florida Politics). Welch has Rep. Ashley Gantt, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Rep. Michele Rayner, former Sen. Arthenia Joyner, Commissioner Rene Flowers, Council Members Deborah Figgs-Sanders and Copley Gerdes, Equality Florida, SEIU, the St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters, and the Police Benevolent Association; Crist has all four living former mayors and Council Members Lisset Hanewicz, Gina Driscoll and Mike Harting (Florida Politics). Former Mayor Bill Foster, who endorsed Welch’s original run for mayor, now backs Crist and said of Welch: “Welcome to the club of one-timers.” Welch’s campaign declined to allow a reporter to attend phone banking or canvassing (Tampa Bay Times).

The utility fight now has a price. A Duke-commissioned Concentric Energy Advisors analysis puts municipalization at $2.75B to $3.8B if completed in 2033, or $2.94B to $4.1B by 2036, in future dollars, against a book value of about $693M for the St. Petersburg slice of Duke’s system; the city is paying NewGen up to $590,000 for its own study, still pending (Florida Politics). The Public Power St. Pete coalition is collecting about 16,200 valid signatures for a November 2028 charter amendment to create a city-owned electric utility (Prism Reports).

Why it matters across Florida

Every coastal city with a famous name on the ballot and a franchise or utility fight underneath will see this pattern. St. Petersburg is the laboratory this November: former governor brand, developer/lobby cash, and a waterfront that still prices stadium-adjacency land.

What to watch

Early voting in Pinellas, starting today, Oct. 19, through Nov. 1 (Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections; Florida Politics). The next weekly committee reports; state records list committee contributions through Oct. 9 as of Oct. 18, and the City Clerk had posted no campaign report newer than the G-4s as of 7:21 p.m. ET Oct. 18 (Division of Elections; City Clerk). Who receives Shines’ final-weeks spending. Brown’s sentencing hearing, Jan. 26 (Philadelphia Inquirer). The NewGen study and Public Power St. Pete signatures. Nov. 3. Disclose the Schorsch/Florida Politics relationship whenever FP is the filing spine.

Correction

Correction, Oct. 6, 2026: An earlier version of this story said the Tampa Bay Rays’ $5,145.96 in-kind gift to St. Pete Shines was described as “food, beverage, seat.” The full state record describes it as “FOOD, BEVERAGE, SEATS”; the fixed-width view we cited cuts the field at 20 characters (Florida Division of Elections, tab-delimited export).

Correction, Oct. 16: An earlier version of this story said both Florida Politics pieces relied on here carry the disclosure of the Schorsch relationship. The story cites 12 Florida Politics articles; five carry the editor’s note, and the Sept. 27 column it relied on for the Sept. 12 to 18 figures is by Peter Schorsch, whom the site identifies as president of Extensive Enterprises Media, and carries no editor’s note (Florida Politics).