Florida Politics Wages War on Welch, Flowers Fights Back

Michelle Todd Schorsch and her husband Peter Schorsch

ST. PETERSBURG — A wave of reporting and opinion pieces from Florida Politics has directed scrutiny at St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch’s re-election campaign, zeroing in on alleged political committee theft and publisher Peter Schorsch’s critiques of Welch’s campaign strategy. These articles and posts have drawn drawing a sharp public response from Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers.

Opinion columns from Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch sharply criticized Welch’s political footing, fundraising position and campaign operations, including commentary on turnout at his kickoff and the creation of a new political committee, St. Petersburg Progress PAC.

At the same time, Florida Politics reported that St. Pete Shines, a political committee chaired by Michelle Todd Schorsch, had surpassed $1 million in fundraising. St. Pete Shines is supporting former Gov. Charlie Crist, who is expected to run for mayor against Ken Welch. Michelle Todd Schorsch, the committee’s chair, is married to Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.

The relationship has drawn attention because Florida Politics’ coverage of the mayor’s race has included both straight news reporting and opinion commentary critical of Welch, while the publisher’s spouse chairs a political committee working to elect a potential opponent.

Commissioner Flowers has emerged as one of Welch’s most vocal defenders online. In a series of social media posts, she pushed back against Florida Politics’ characterizations of Welch’s kickoff and fundraising struggles.

Responding directly to a post by Schorsch suggesting sparse turnout at Welch’s kickoff, Flowers wrote: “Lies-Lies- and more Lies,” disputing the description of the venue layout and accusing the publisher of failing to report “ACCURATELY.” She later linked to a 2017 Florida Politics column predicting former Mayor Rick Kriseman would lose re-election — a race Kriseman ultimately won — writing: “The prediction was WRONG then, and its WRONG now. Kriseman won his re-election. Welch will win his re- election. IJS.”

Welch has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the unauthorized committee transfers, and in fact has reported the theft to law enforcement. Still, the apparent theft, committee reshuffling and early fundraising gap have become recurring themes in Florida Politics coverage.

Meanwhile, Welch continues to campaign on his record, including a proposed $600 million infrastructure bond and plans to advance redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District.

With qualifying months away, the 2026 mayoral contest is already shaping up as both a political battle and a media fight — one in which the lines between coverage and campaign activity are being publicly debated alongside the candidates themselves.