See Which Candidate Ranked Highest By NAACP In St. Pete Mayoral Debate

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — After Monday’s St. Petersburg mayoral debate, the NAACP St. Petersburg branch, which hosted the event at the Barack Obama Main Library, released its rankings of the candidates. (If you missed the debate, you can watch it below.)

The scoring was conducted by three independent evaluators in the audience who aren’t affiliated with any campaign. All candidates were scored using the same criteria and scoring rubric.

Incumbent Mayor Ken Welch ranked highest, earning a score of 42.3 out of 50, the equivalent of an A- letter grade, according to the NAACP candidate evaluation summary.

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Here’s how other candidates scored during the debate:

• Brandi Gabbard: 38/50 (B+)
• Maria Scruggs: 37.3/50 (B)
• Charlie Crist: 28.7/50 (C+)
• Kevin Batdorf: 25.3/50 (C)

Candidate James Large earned a 0/50 and an F letter grade because he didn’t attend the debate.

Candidates tackled various topics during Monday's debate, including hurricane preparedness, response, and recovery; accountability and transparency; the St. Petersburg Police Department’s agreement with ICE; affordability; the city’s Duke Energy contract and the possibility of forming its own municipal utility; and the future of the Gas Plant District.

St. Petersburg voters will cast their ballots for mayor on Aug. 18. If there is no clear winner, the top two vote-getters will head to a Nov. 3 runoff race.

Watch the full debate: