St. Petersburg, FL is a vibrant city with a wide variety of political interests and activities. It is home to both the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners and the St. Petersburg City Council, both governing bodies that are dedicated to making decisions on behalf of the citizens of St. Petersburg. In addition, there are numerous other organizations devoted to politics in the area such as the League of Women Voters, which provide resources and events for those involved in local politics. There are numerous candidates running for office each year, ranging from national representatives to local elected officials including Mayor Rick Kriseman, City Council members Karl Nurse and Darden Rice, and State House Representative Chris Latvala. Each candidate typically has differing views on topics such as development, taxes, public safety and economic growth so it is important for citizens to be informed about their options when voting. It is also important for citizens to stay connected through events such as town halls or debates hosted by local media outlets or organizations like the League of Women Voters so they can make informed decisions on voting day.
The political climate in St. Petersburg, FL is leaning liberal.
Pinellas County, FL is leaning liberal. In Pinellas County, FL 49.4% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 49.2% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.3% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Pinellas county flipped narrowly Democratic, 49.4% to 49.2%.
Pinellas county flipped Democratic in most recent Presidential election (2016 and 2004 went Republican).
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
St. Petersburg, FL is leaning liberal.
Pinellas County, Florida is leaning liberal.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metro Area is leaning conservative.
Florida is leaning conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
St. Petersburg, Florida: d r d d r d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in St. Petersburg, FL
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 21,200 contributions totaling $2,732,220 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $129 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 5,224 contributions totaling $5,521,984 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,057 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)