Democrats turned to Charlie Crist, one of Florida’s most familiar political faces, as their candidate to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In picking Crist, a Democratic congressman, in voting that concluded Tuesday, primary voters were betting that Crist’s optimistic, happy warrior style would win over voters disaffected by the Republican governor’s confrontational, in-your-face leadership style.
“The truth is this governor couldn’t care less about your freedom. He’s abusive. He is a bully. He is a bully. And he’s dangerous. He is dangerous. He imitates the worst authoritarian leaders on the globe,” Crist said at a primary night rally in St. Petersburg. “Don’t be fooled by the DeSantis propaganda machine. He doesn’t promote freedom. He takes freedom away. We can put a stop to this wannabe dictator. If we work together, stand up to this bully, we will defeat him in November.”
Crist defeated Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner. More than 20 years younger than Crist — who has spent decades as a candidate and elected official — Fried had pitched herself offering something new that could energize voters in November.
“The people of Florida clearly sent a message: They want a governor who cares about them, to solve real problems, who preserves our freedom. Not a bully who divides us and takes our freedom away,” Crist said. “We can unite Democrats, independents and many Republicans who care about our Florida. And we will defeat Ron DeSantis.”
DeSantis, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination for a second term, said “freedom is on the line in November,” and sought to link Crist with President Joe Biden, who is increasingly unpopular. “Our state is worth fighting for, and I am calling on all Floridians to put on the full armor of God as we will fight tooth and nail to protect Florida from the destructive agenda of Joe Biden and his number one ally in Florida, Charlie Crist,” he said in a statement.
As the results from mail ballots and in-person early voting were posted as soon as the polls closed, Crist began racking up significant numbers.
Shortly after 11 p.m., with almost 1.5 million votes cast in the Democratic primary, Crist had 59.8% of the vote to 35.3% for Fried.
Fried, who declined to pledge before the primary that she’d endorse Crist if he won, said — when pressed by a reporter after her concession speech in Fort Lauderdale — that she was endorsing him.
“I have endorsed Charlie, and I have said that, that I will always be supportive of the Democratic nominee because we have one mission, and that’s to take down Ron DeSantis,” Fried said. “Anything is better than Ron DeSantis.”
The Democratic nominee’s mission is exceedingly difficult: attempting to defeat DeSantis, and derailing his chances of going on to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
His defeat is the objective Democrats prize more than anything. The desire to defeat DeSantis will bring Democrats together, Fried said at her primary night gathering in Fort Lauderdale.
“We are going to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor and a zero-term president,” Fried told her supporters.
Crist’s supporters saw him as the candidate with the greatest potential to appeal to moderate independents and, perhaps, some Republicans.
Fried’s supporters saw her as a fresh political face who could generate excitement as the person who’d become Florida’s first female governor. Attempting to drive home that message, her bus tour in the final days of the campaign was called “Something New.” Crist’s final tour of the state was called “Hope for Florida.”
What’s next
The winner won’t have any time to rest. The initial to-do list:
Convince deep-pocketed donors that the governor’s race isn’t a lost cause, and that it’s worth pouring millions of dollars into the Democratic desire to defeat DeSantis.
Unify the party. Unifying the state’s Democrats could be difficult after an increasingly nasty primary campaign. In the final weeks of the campaign, Crist and Fried put each other through a political wood chipper. But the desire to politically damage DeSantis is so great that it could overcome lingering disappointment among Democratic activists who supported the loser — and whose time and energy is needed for November. Broward Democrats are holding a “2022 Florida Victory Kickoff” on Thursday night. “Our expectation” is Crist and Fried will both be there, party Chairman Rick Hoye said.
Pick a running mate. Florida gives the new nominee for governor until the close of business on Sept. 1 to pick the candidate for lieutenant governor. They run together, as a ticket, in November.
Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement Tuesday that Florida voters aren’t looking for Democratic policies in a governor. “Floridians want a governor who will stand up for their freedoms, fight Washington’s overreach, and protect Florida’s economy and livelihoods, and the only candidate with a record of doing so is Gov. Ron DeSantis.”
Tough primary
From its earliest days, there was an edge to the campaign. Almost since its inception, Crist sought to place himself above the fray, often ignoring Fried.
Early on, Fried sought to take down the better-known Crist — softly at first, then getting much tougher.
On the day he formally announced his candidacy in May 2021, she said “it makes absolute sense for me to be running for governor,” taking away a little of the political oxygen from the day’s news. (Both had been unofficially running for months, so neither decision was any kind of surprise).
On the campaign trail, Fried has been portraying herself as true to Democratic principles while casting doubt on Crist’s beliefs, suggesting that she has convictions on issues and he doesn’t.
That’s become especially pronounced since the Supreme Court of the U.S. in late June overturned the Roe v. Wade decision giving abortion rights constitutional protection. Since then, a central theme of Fried’s campaign is that Crist isn’t a dependable supporter of abortion rights.
Crist appointed two conservatives to the state Supreme Court, something he has said he regrets, and has consistently called himself “pro life.” But he also vetoed abortion restrictions during his previous term when he was the Republican governor from 2007 to 2011.
Crist’s response on the abortion issue, via a TV commercial that has him looking directly at the camera: “Nikki Fried isn’t being honest about my record. The truth: I vetoed anti-abortion legislation to protect your right to choose. And I’ve got a perfect record from NARAL [Pro-Choice America] and Planned Parenthood. Nikki knows I fought for your right to choose. More importantly, now you do, too.”
Crist
Crist, 66, has spent decades in politics.
Now a Democrat, Crist was the state’s Republican governor from 2007 until 2011. He’s currently a member of Congress from St. Petersburg. Running for governor required him to forgo running for a fourth term.
When Crist was the Republican governor, he was at one point seen as the sure Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010. But he left the party when it became obvious he’d be defeated in the primary by Marco Rubio.
Crist instead ran for the Senate as an independent/no-party affiliation candidate. Rubio won, finishing 19.2 percentage points ahead of Crist, who came in second in a three-way race.
By 2014, Crist was a Democrat, and he challenged then-Gov. Rick Scott for re-election. Scott won, finishing 1 percentage point ahead of Crist.
Earlier in his career, Crist was a Republican state senator, education commissioner and attorney general.
The vast majority of Democratic elected officials who endorsed in the primary threw their support to Crist, including South Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, a prominent Black political leader who is the state’s first openly LGBTQ member of the Florida Senate.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, typically doesn’t make endorsements in seriously contested party primaries — but she endorsed Crist.
In addition, major labor unions — an important Democratic Party constituency — endorsed Crist along with the editorial pages of all the state’s large newspapers.
Joyce Figueroa, of Pembroke Pines, she was convinced by the Crist ad on abortion rights. “The thing that got me was that commercial saying Crist supported all things for women,” she said. “We need someone like that.”
Lisa Silvers, an investment banker from Parkland, said she voted for Crist because of the governor. “I think he has the best chance of beating DeSantis,” Silvers said.
Hollywood voter David Abrams said he wrestled with his vote for governor this year. “I voted for Charlie Crist while holding my nose,” Abrams said. “He’s not a perfect candidate. But anything can happen. And if the stars align, Charlie might win.”
Fried
Fried, 44, is the only Democrat to win a statewide election in Florida since 2012, a time frame that saw 11 Republican wins. That was a major selling point of her campaign.
Her 2018 election as state agriculture commissioner was the first time she sought elective office, and Fried’s victory was extremely narrow — 6,733 votes out of more than 8 million cast. Fried grew up in Miami and lived in Broward for 10 years before moving to Tallahassee when she became agriculture commissioner.
A gubernatorial victory would have made her the state’s first female governor.
She told her supporters that she’s not done with politics. “Movements don’t happen overnight, and change doesn’t happen overnight,” Fried said at her primary night event. “I know that this is just the start of a very long future that we will have together.”
Fried had support from several organizations of Black Democrats and some LGBTQ organizations and community leaders. And she was endorsed by Fred Guttenberg, one of the most recognizable, outspoken parents of children killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
Gary D. Wright, of Lauderhill, said he had a hard time choosing, but ultimately went with Fried.
“I was at a standstill on this. Crist did well as governor, but he was a little too flip-flop for me. You want to be on the winning side, I get it, but I prefer someone who’s been a Democrat for a while,” Wright said.
Charlie Kaplan, a retired law enforcement officer from Parkland, also voted for Fried. “We need more women in government,” he said.
Andrew Leeds, of Boca Raton, said he voted for Fried because of her antipathy toward the governor. “I feel like she really really dislikes DeSantis as much as I do,” Leeds said.
DeSantis on their minds
Even though DeSantis didn’t have a primary, and his name wasn’t on ballots Tuesday, plenty of voters were thinking about him.
“I like what he’s done for Florida,” said William Mickey, of Parkland, who described himself as a die-hard Republican. “He’s stood up for Florida in a lot of issues.”
Democrat Deborah McCray of Boca Raton, a former police sergeant, said she voted for Crist because she believed he has the best chance of winning in November.
“We don’t want a dictatorship,” McCray said. “We don’t want a Putin.”
Staff writers Olivia Lloyd, Shira Moolten and Susannah Bryan contributed to this report.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics
