How the St. Petersburg mayor's race was won

ST. PETERSBURG — Poll after poll showed Bill Foster losing to Kathleen Ford.

He decided to heed the advice of many: He went negative in the waning days of the St. Petersburg mayor's race.

Foster TV commercials and mailers began to portray Ford as a "divider" and Foster as a "uniter."

The tactic won him the election, Foster said.

"We didn't poll well until we started running that message," Foster said Wednesday, a day after he was elected mayor with 53 percent of the vote. "We knew that we had to focus on consensus building and our ability to bring people together and that's what we did."

Voting records support his theory. Early mail ballots had Foster slightly ahead, with only 50.5 percent of the vote. But he emerged as the clear victor once Election Day ballots were tabulated and 11 precincts that had been leaning toward Ford fell his way.

His election is the latest win for the city's majority black neighborhoods, which have sided with the victor in every recent mayoral campaign. While Ford, 52, made some early inroads, her efforts fell short.

Foster, 46, started his first day as the mayor-elect at 6 a.m. with a handful of interviews. He stopped by City Hall and thanked city workers for their service. He fielded congratulatory e-mails and telephone calls. Mid-afternoon, he said he planned to take a nap.

It was an anticlimatic finish to a heated campaign that pitted Ford's promise for reform against Foster's vow to continue steady progress.

Read story here.

Click here to see an interactive map with the election results.

Comments

[Brontosaurus]

The uniter/divider narrative worked for W in 2000. Let's hope that, despite the negative campaign parallels, Mr. Foster is a more capable elected official than W was.

[Reality]

Really... it was Fosters negative ad that did it for him... not the St. PeteTimes weeks of and almost daily and incessant tabloid-esque reporting that repeatedly misrepresented Candidate Ford’s positions, words, and comments... Not the St. Pete Times’ slanderous and libelous writings, and race-bating that intended to mislead readers and voters into thinking Ford herself made the now infamous “HNIC” comment and not that she was simply quoting a renowned professor and subject matter expert... Not the Times less-than scrupulous journalism that mirrored that of a hired partisan gun tasked with the goal of supporting their predetermined pick... really... it was Fosters 30-second ad that ran ROS and mostly between 1 and 3 am... really? I guess it really does depend on what the definition of “is”... is.

[Patient One]

Negative political advertising works more often than not. No surprise, except, perhaps, to serve as a truer reflection of the candidate and his sense of ethics.

In the end, Foster was willing to do whatever it took to win, even if it cost him some dignity. But that can't be a surprise, either, considering who his primary supporters were.

His vast financial advantage wasn't overcoming Ford's message of accountability. His solution proves that his message wasn't strong enough. Better to dig up old photos of his opponent and make disparaging remarks about her than to stand by his Foster Formula and his commitment to a clean campaign.

A sell out is a sell out, no matter how you slice it. Even The Times plastered it across their front page today (though we all know they're glad he sold out).

Of course, it would not be fair to lay everything at Foster's feet. Ford's insistence on running her campaign her way, without the benefit of professional help (in particular, her embarrassing TV commercial comes to mind), had to cost her points in the end.

Good luck, Bill. Now it's your turn to lead. I hope you do well.

And farewell, my fellow posters. This will be my last post. I'm grateful to The Times for the forum they provided.

[Alex Haak]

Patient one: i know what you mean. It least my precinct did good for her !!!

"Alex Haak will tell it like it is"

[Voting Trend]

This story is all wrong. The general race was won when Alex made his backup pick after he failed to meet the filing deadline and his primary candidate wallowed out.

The Trend lives. Long live the Trend

[St. Pete's stimulus plan? Combined, the candidates for elected office ended up raising more than $1,139,173.]

St. Pete's stimulus plan? Combined, the candidates for elected office ended up raising more than $1,139,173.

http://bit.ly/3xVGJM

[Albert Cirrus]

"Mid-afternoon, he said he planned to take a nap."

And he's 46 years old? I know he has been busy all week, but could this become a trend? Didn't Bush also take a lot of naps?

[St. Pete's stimulus plan? Combined, the candidates for elected office ended up raising more than $1,139,173.]

St. Pete's stimulus plan? Combined, the candidates for elected office ended up raising more than $1,139,173.

http://bit.ly/3xVGJM

[Doesn't look like the other St. Petersblog is too happy with Bill Foster's win.]

Doesn't look like the other St. Petersblog is too happy with Bill Foster's win.

http://bit.ly/3xVGJM

[Some national reaction to Steve Kornell's historic win.]

Some national reaction to Steve Kornell's historic win.

http://bit.ly/3xVGJM

[Some national reaction to Steve Kornell's historic win.]

Winning campaign managers Darden Rice and Johnny Bardine discuss how they helped their clients win.

http://bit.ly/3xVGJM

[black eye]

Kathleen Ford had NO ground game. Her fault- there's plenty of of people out there who know how to run a campaign. If she can't find them/ inspire them/ or enlist them, then shame on her. If she would run CIty Hall the same way, then all better for her deserved loss.

Let's hope the firefighters had a big fire Tuesday morning as an excuse for their absence across the board. NO ONE saw their literature at doors preceding Election Day , either. I think they knew it was Game Over and they stopped running the clock. It hurt Ford the most.

[number flip?]

Ford was ahead 5% two days before the race and 7% in two district polls. All done in a positive way. What's wrong with that?

[number flip?]

Ford had a ground game. Were you not there?

She also had no support for the local elected democrats. Don't forget, the majority of the voters chose her in the primary. These electeds did not care about the majority, and the direction they wanted for St. Pete.

Can we hear more on this?

[almost funny]

"winning campaign managers Darden Rice"

you call that a race? zero contest and hardly any press. Never heard them at forums either. It was always for mayor and we could never hear from council candidates. Nurse never had a worry. That's not a campaign.

[Alex Haak]

I gave her a 34 year old garbage suppuration plan, a plan I brought back from Europe, a plan that would take care of the side walk and home suppuration, problem. A program I implemented my self, as mayor, that many years ago. It when on deaf ears. O WELL.
I asked Kathleen; that if she was serious about eliminating those high salaries, in city hall, and to come up with a press release saying; how she would cut her own salary to less then $100 000, it when on deaf ears. O WELL!!!
I do not want to say that St Pete is that many years behind. But it is something to think about.

"Alex Haak will tell it like it is"

[Just Sayin']

Note to "Black Eye" re: your comments

on lack of firefighter involvement in

the campaign's waning days...perhaps

more fallout from the HNIC comment?

[John Russell, MS/ARNP, MBA Health Systems Mgt.]

Bill Foster "Flintstone" did not need to go negative in view of the St. Petersburg Times, WMNF, Tampa Tribune, FOX 13, BayNEWS9, WFLZ Radio/Bubba, WFLA Channel 8, 88.5FM WMNF "Community" Radio, et al...

ALL working in a COORDINATED fashion to TRASH Mrs. Ford with as much REPETITION as possible of "KEY" words like... "Divisive..." "HNIC..." including in written stories that the word Negro at times is replaced by an epithet that also begins with the letter "N" in the acronym HNIC! I did not hear the word "abrasive" used in describing Kathleen Ford... but perhaps I missed it???

THIS is WHY St.Petersburg residents will now have a KomPLETE KLOWN errr "PUPPET" as mayor. This is by design of course, just as "The Establishment" had planned...

The goal of this NEGATIVE campaign directed EXCLUSIVELY at diminishing the black vote FOR... Mrs. Ford through the COORDINATED effort of the media, certainly had the desired effect...

in COMPLETELY MIS-representing just how Mrs. Ford felt about the African American community.

There most certainly ARE issues with a political system that allows the "free press..." to recklessly "DIRECT" the electorate with such patently abusive PROPAGANDA in order to INFLUENCE who shows up to vote and WHO they vote for or against.

THIS episode should serve as an example that will hopefully educate the naive true believers... as to just WHAT IS the nature of a totally broken system that serves up such destructive nonsensical hoopla/shenanigans as a foundation for WHAT passes for democracy in this country.

There WAS NOTHING "democratic" about THIS process! There IS NOTHING "democratic" in a process whereby THE CORPORATE PRESS serves up boatloads of FREE NEGATIVE/DERISIVE advertising benefiting ONE Candidate... (Bill aka "Flintstone" Foster!)

What took place in St. Petersburg over the past few weeks was merely an illusion...

The purpose of which being to satisfy the naive... who still believe that elections are fairly conducted in this country... while simultaneously ensuring the continued dominion of "The Establishment..." over the affairs of government in St. Pete!
John Russell

[D D Deeee!]

The definition of “insanity”: doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.

Welcome to Floriduuh politics baby... Last in Education; First in Corruption!

[Baker for AG!]

How it was won....

Bags of Republican cash given to Southside Churches

Foster signs a contract to keep Goliath Davis (known in some places as extortion, known in Florida as good politics)

Mayor Baker actively campaigns for Foster, telling people on the Southside that Foster is a Democrat. (The apple does not fall far from the Baker felony family tree)

[First to the bottom]

Just a reminder, Ford went negative long before Foster did. His was just more effective because the people could believe it. (rightfully so) Let's face it she did those things that the times reported on while on council. People just didn't trust her to change her spots. Her negativity was mean spirited and aimed at a mans religion. (bad move)

[lay off the hippie lettuce]

Since when did the Times actually "report" anything? Wake up dude... the rag's a tabloid in search of car ads...

[John Russell, MS/ARNP, MBA Health Systems Mgt.]

To First to The Bottom... I know it is a sin to criticize a man for merely thinking like a "Flintstone!"

ANYONE who actually would believe even in the MOST drunken of stupors that Human Beings strode the earth at the same time that DINOSAURS did, has one heckuva screw loose!

That kind of backward thinking is documentary evidence of unadulterated ignorance. In the 21st century there is no place for that!

[Albert Cirrus]

Mayor Baker actively campaigns for Foster, telling people on the Southside that Foster is a Democrat.

This is why we need partisan elections, at least on the mayoral level. It would be so much harder for someone to claim they were a Democrat then go to the voting booth and see the "R" behind their name.

[First to the bottom]

To John Russell; Of course you missed the point of my post. The point was that Foster is getting dumped on for going negative when Ford was there from the beginning. Deflect and attack. So typical! I notice you didn't deny the divisive attitude that has given Ford such a bad reputation. Don't even go there saying that is just her "leadership style". That boat don't float!