Charlie Crist's St. Petersburg mayoral campaign has raised record money through complex web of political committees with utility ties

On a busy Gainesville street — just a block from the University of Florida football stadium — stands the Delta Upsilon fraternity house, sturdy white columns framing its Greek letters over the doorway.

It's also listed in public records as the headquarters of a political committee supporting Charlie Crist for mayor of St. Petersburg.

That committee is one of many Crist's backersare using to take in and disburse money. Crist's camp has not only raised a record $2 million in his bid for mayor as of Friday, but has also moved contributions around in ways that create a long and winding trail that reaches all over the state. Even in this era of decreasing transparency, the methods stand out for their scale and complexity, which are more commonly used in big-money races for governor rather than municipal elections.

More than $550,000 of the donations to Crist's political committee, St. Pete Shines, has come from Florida political committees, records show. And more than half of those PACs got most of their donations from otherpolitical committees, a Tampa Bay Times analysis found. The PACs function like nesting dolls, making the ultimatesource of the money difficult to discern.

The other four mayoral candidates received about $48,000 from outside political committees to their PACs — combined. Their total donations also lag behind Crist's.

"If you feel confident that you took those dollars with no promises made, then you should be transparent about who you took those dollars from," said City Council member Brandi Gabbard, who's running against Crist. "That's the kind of transparency that I want to see from my elected officials."

Asked about the Times analysis, Crist said his paperwork provides all the necessary details.

"If you look at it and you do your research, you'll be able to find out what it is," he said. "I have been blessed by our success, and other people may have an issue with that, and I understand that, but maybe they should work hard, too."

Through this pass-through approach, Crist has indirectly received money from the utility industry at a time when St. Petersburg is reconsidering its relationship with Duke Energy.

The City Council recently greenlit a feasibility study on leaving Duke. Consultants will evaluate whether a city-run utility could offer St. Petersburg residents lower rates on their power bills.

The next mayor will have a key role in this decision. The last legal agreement the city signed with Duke lasted 30 years.

As Florida's attorney general, Crist took legal action against utility rate hikes in the early 2000s, saying the companies, including Duke's predecessor, were gouging consumers.

"If people want to give to my campaign, they give because they like what I stand for. That doesn't mean that they're going to influence what I'm going to do," Crist said. "I can't be bought."

Michelle Todd Schorsch, the chairperson of Crist's political committee St. Pete Shines, defended the use of PACs as a legal and transparent way to fundraise. She said it is not nefarious.

"I have never spoken to Duke Energy," she said. "Other than to report a power outage."

Crist received a $192,000 donation from a committee called Many United Democrats, which got $20,000 from a PAC used by a big business lobbying group that gets checks from Duke and other utilities.

Friends for a Better St. Petersburg, located at the Delta Upsilon frat house, also has connections to utility money. It received $20,000 from a committee called Floridians for a Better Florida, which has taken $9,500 in recent years from Floridians for Common Sense.

Floridians for Common Sense, registered to term-limited state Sen. Darryl Rouson, received regular infusions of cash as recently as December 2025 from Duke Energy, Tampa Electric Co. and the parent company of Florida Power & Light.

Floridians for a Better Florida has also donated $80,000 directly to Crist's committee. It, too, listed the address of the frat house in filing paperwork in 2014.

Both committees that used the address are led by recent UF alumni and members of Delta Upsilon. The chairpersons, Nicholas P. Andrews and Kyle Fitzpatrick, are Republicans. Crist is a Democrat, though he was previously a Republican when he served as governor and attorney general.

According to his LinkedIn, Andrews has a staff job for the White House helping with event logistics. Despite creating Friends for a Better St. Petersburg in 2023, it's unclear what his ties are to the city.

Reached by phone, Andrews acknowledged the political committee was registered at the Delta Upsilon house. After a reporter asked why he started the committee, he said he was busy, would talk to a reporter later and hung up. Subsequent calls to Andrews' phone went straight to voicemail. He did not respond to text messages.

Fitzpatrick, who is registered to vote in Boynton Beach, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking comment. He graduated from Sickles High School in Tampa and is an engineer, according to his LinkedIn.

Crist said he didn't know some of his money was coming through a UF fraternity house.

"God bless them," he said. "I'm grateful, I'm humbled."

In addition to the indirect contributions from utility companies, Crist has enjoyed support from Tallahassee's most powerful Republican lobbyists, whose client lists include all the big electric utilities.

Those lobbyists, including Brian Ballard and Nick Iarossi, previously told the Times they wrote checks toCrist because they have longstanding relationships with him.

By contrast, others running for mayor, including incumbent Ken Welch, have not seen the same support from Tallahassee insiders or political committees with utility ties.

Welch formerly worked in the utility industry as an accountant for Florida Power Corp., a company that later became Duke Energy.

Duke wrote a $10,000 check to a political committee backing Welch in March 2022, just months after he took office. It hasn't given directly to him since.

But Welch isn't immune from taking money tied to utilities.In the largest haul reported since the slate of candidates was set in May, another political committee behind Welch reported Friday receiving $25,000 from Social Justice PAC. That political committee's most recent donations trace back to Associated Industries for Florida's Prosperity, a committee powered by utility money.

"Charlie Crist has spent a lifetime in politics, and the same old playbook is showing up again: big checks, outside money, powerful interests and plenty of questions about who expects what in return," Welch said in a statement.

"Our city isn't a political comeback tour, and City Hall shouldn't be part of the deal."

Asked about its donations in the mayoral race, Duke Energy declined to comment directly. Ana Gibbs, a company spokesperson, said the company's donations follow all disclosure laws.

The accumulation of this corporate money has turned off some of Crist's former supporters, who say he's betrayed his principles.

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said he worked closely with Crist when he was attorney general — a time when Crist built a reputation for being tough on utility companies and aggressive in combatting climate change.

But in this race, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's political arm endorsed Gabbard.

"It's very sad to see how far (Crist) has fallen away from his fire-in-the-belly stance he's had to defend consumers," Smith said. "To me, it's just a very overwhelming moment of disappointment."

Smith accused the campaign of "shaking down" utility lobbyists for donations, and takes issue with Crist's comments on the Duke feasibility study. Crist has said the idea of a city-run utility is worth exploring, but has raised concerns about the price tag of the study as well as acquiring Duke's equipment.

"Charlie Crist of all people should know, you should be using this as a moment of political power and leverage to represent your constituents and yet he has now done the exact opposite," Smith said. "He's signaled, 'Here's a for-sale sign ... and I will lose my backbone.'"

Times staff writer Ashley Borja contributed to this report.