ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Four St. Petersburg city council seats are up for election this year.
- Chic Cromartie facing backlash for anti-LGBTQ comments
- Cromartie is running for St. Petersburg City Council
- Pinellas County GOP leaders have called for Cromartie to drop out
The field of candidates is larger, but one candidate is facing criticism for his negative comments about the LGBTQ community.
Chico Cromartie is a registered Republican running for the District 7 seat. But members of his own party want him to drop out of the race.
Pinellas County GOP leaders say Cromartie's statements that the city disproportionately supports the LGBTQ community over the African American community and that homosexuality is a choice crossed the line.
In a statement sent to Spectrum Bay News 9, the chair of the Republican Party of Pinellas County want Cromartie to end his campaign.
"I wholeheartedly condemn Mr. Cromartie's rhetoric. It is not emblematic of my values or the values of the Republican Party."
Cromartie responded to the statement.
"I never met him personally," he said. "I'd never asked him to endorse me. For him to ask me to step down based on some comments I made, I think that is disingenuous on his part."
Cromartie faces incumbent councilwoman Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, Eritha Cainion and Sarah Moore in the August 27 primary. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election unless one candidate receives 50 percent of the vote plus one.
The top two candidates with the most votes will face off on November 5.