Rep. Charlie Crist announces run for Florida governor

[brooklynite]

Source: Bay News 9

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist made a major announcement, saying he is running for governor.

In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Crist, a former governor of Florida, stated, "Florida should be a place where hard work is rewarded, justice is equal, and opportunity is right in front of you. That's a Florida for all — and that's why I'm running for Governor."

In his campaign add, Crist attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying, "But today, Florida has a governor that's only focused on his future, not yours."

He also accused DeSantis of attacking doctors and scientists during the COVID pandemic, focusing on Rebekah Jones, the data scientist fired from her position at the Florida Department of Health last year after she made accusations that the numbers in the COVID dashboard did not reflect actual numbers.

Read more: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/politics/2021/05/04/us-congressman-charlie-crist-major-announcement

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Link to tweet

[hlthe2b]

1. Well, it sounds like an uphill climb, but damn, I hope he can be successful.

[Lovie777]

2. Good luck! . .

Florida Cuban American's who fled and or had family flee Cuba apparently have forgotten why they fled to the USA because now they are supporting the same ideology here in America, i.e. shithole and the republican party. Gov. DeSantis is a want a be dictator over Florida.

[Rebl2]

8. I have

thought about that a bit the last couple years. They fled Cuba to get away from a dictatorship and yet now they support wanna be dictators like trump and desantis and the list goes on.

[ancianita]

3. His is a sisyphean effort. He's probably the best Florida can get.

If Florida voters were to have a free and fair election, he'd probably win. But the 16 billionaires there aren't having either a legislature or governor they can't control.

[flamingdem]

4. He might be able to peel off repub votes

A lot of Floridians are less than thrilled with DeSantis and his poor handling of the pandemic.

[Omnipresent]

5. Wouldn't that also mean, his house seat will be "Open".

Can we possibly afford to lose his seat in the midterms?

[HUAJIAO]

26. No, unless a dem is a guaranteed win, about which I have no idea

[FBaggins]

30. Possibly

It isn't required (though a surface glance at FL statutes appears at first to require it)...

... but it could be politically necessary in a close race. Some voters won't support you if it doesn't seem like you're "all in" for the executive race.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. 2 House seats...Val Demmings.

She could beat Rubio.

[Jose Garcia]

12. Demmings' district (as currently constituted) is solidly blue

Crist's is a toss-up.

[snowybirdie]

7. He was a decent Republican governor

He changed parties to fit then political realities, ran for the Senate, lost and finally became a Democrat to win a Congressional seat. The dynamics of the current electoral process needs someone more in tune with today's super charged atmosphere.

[obamanut2012]

9. Oh God no, he'll do worse than Gillum

Gwen Graham has moved on, but there are great candidates like Nikki Fried or Val Demings.

[JI7]

11. But he has actually won before

[rockfordfile]

17. true.

There seems to be a disconnect with some people on here. 2222 elections are big,.

[Polybius]

19. As a Republican

It'll be much tougher now.

[BlueStater]

20. But he's also lost once since then (2014) and DeSantis seems like a stronger candidate than Scott.

I’m amazed that Scott has been as electorally successful as he has been considering he has the charm of a diseased rodent and the charisma of dryer lint.

[jcgoldie]

31. Hoping Demings will

...take down Rubio.

[IronLionZion]

10. Running as a Dem

It should be interesting to see if he wins the primaries. He would have a good shot at the general election.

[Jose Garcia]

13. The party pretty much cleared the field for him last time

It doesn't look like that is happening now.

[sarcasmo]

14. Baseball recycles managers and politics recycles politicians.

[Stuart G]

15. What works, works. Christ can win, and that is very important.

[BlueStater]

16. I like the guy, but he lost to the utterly charisma-free Rick Scott.

Not sure he can beat DeShithead.

[ananda]

18. Good!

!!!

[mcar]

21. I would rather see Nikki Fried get the nomination

and have Crist stay in the house. And Val Demings run for Senate. I believe her seat is pretty solidly blue.

[csziggy]

22. Or Gwen Graham for one of the posts

But none of them will win unless they use everything they can against DeSantis and Rubio. Both of the RepuQs have a lot of dirt in their backgrounds - but the Florida Democratic Party had not used it in past elections. That would have made a difference.

I remember when the only RepuQ governor Florida had since Reconstruction was Claude Kirk - and went to a beach party after he was defeated. We collected all the campaign signs we could find and burned them for our bonfire. Then Jeb Bush got in and it's been RepuQs ever since.

Crist will NEVER get my vote - I know how he continued Jeb's policies even though they had already been proven to not work. The RepuQs since have continued to destroy Florida's government in the Sunshine and protections for state employees. Florida needs Democratic elected officials to bring back our government, just like President Biden is doing at the Federal level.

[mcar]

23. Graham would be great too

She just got appointed to the Biden Admin, though, so she may not be interested.

If Crist is the nominee, he will get my vote and I'll work my tail off for him. He would not be my first choice.

[csziggy]

24. It would be extremely hard for me if Crist gets the nomination

I may do a write in vote for the first time in my life, though getting rid of DeSantis would be wonderful.

[mcar]

27. You would let DeathSentence get reelected?

[csziggy]

29. That's what would be hard for me

I detest DeSantis, but when he was in office, I detested Crist as much - and I have not changed my opinion of Crist. Frankly, I do NOT think that Crist would be much of an improvement over DeSantis.

[mcar]

32. I've lived in FL since 1992

Crist was head and shoulders over DeSantis - and he was a Republican then. I wasn't crazy about him but there simply is no comparison.

Do you think Crist would have responded to the pandemic the way DeSantis has? I doubt it.

[csziggy]

34. I've lived in Florida all my life

And been aware of Florida politics since 1970. OK, I'll give you that Crist was better than DeSantis - but he still ran the state like a RepuQ and continued Jeb Bush's policies.

[hay rick]

25. Not my first, second, or third pick.

I am involved with the Florida Democratic Party and had a closeup view of his inept 2014 campaign for governor. I have no reason to expect him to run a more capable campaign this time around. Also, he is an incumbent congressman in a purple district which could go the other way if it's an open seat. Of course, he may be motivated by a belief that redistricting will be used to push his seat out of reach. Val Demings comes from a bluer area and would not pose the same risk to the congressional delegation.

My order of preference at this point is Demings or Eskamani, Fried, and then Charlie. I really like Anna Eskamani, but she is not as well known as Demings and her Iranian heritage is a wild card in a statewide race. I'm OK with Nikki but I doubt that we hold the cabinet-level Commissioner of Agriculture if she runs for governor.

[mcar]

28. I like Eskamani too

but I think she needs more time. Isn't she in her first term? She's quite young.

I'd rather lose Agriculture and gain the Governorship.

[Cetacea]

33. Fried has more charisma than any of them

And smarts and looks to match.

[pressbox69]

35. Any chance

that Dotard Trump will decide to run for Gov? If not 22 perhaps 26? I'd rather see Dotard as Gov. of Florida than back in the White House. That would be a nice way for Florida to be paid back for their sins of 2000, 2016 and 2018. Meanwhile, I'd advise everyone to boycott Disney World, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Universal Studios until they come out against Racist Ronnie and his fascist laws.