Bill Foster Republican Rick Kriseman Democratic St. Petersburg, Florida, held an election for mayor on August 27 and November 5, 2013.

No candidate won a majority of the vote, so the top two finishers, incumbent Mayor Bill Foster and former State Representative Rick Kriseman, advanced to a runoff.

Adam C. Smith of the Tampa Bay Times wrote that although 70% of voters approved of where the city was heading and Foster was "a good man who presided over no corruption scandal, no violent racial unrest", he only proved to be "adequate" at the job.

He also "underestimat[ed] voters' intelligence, talking about a secret plan to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg", had an "ever-shifting" position on the St. Petersburg Pier and alienated African-American voters in Midtown.

Kriseman, Smith wrote, capitalized on this to win "considerable" African-American support and ran as a "safe, credible alternative for those unimpressed with the incumbent", promising to govern like popular former Mayor Rick Baker.