Let the campaigning begin: Crist, Rubio, DeSantis in Bay Area day after primary
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist defeated Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and is now preparing to take on Gov. Ron DeSantis in November. The Pinellas native isn't wasting any time transitioning to the next phase of his campaign.
Wednesday. Crist made his first post-primary campaign stop in St. Petersburg, specifically the local favorite, Kissin' Cuzzins, a diner that has been around since the 1960s.
"I know Florida and I know she is heartbroken with how he is trying to tear her apart," Crist said about DeSantis. "We need to bring our beautiful Florida together again. The guy is anti-democracy. I’m pro-democracy. His blind ambition for the presidency of the United States of America has taken his eye on the ball. I won’t let you down. You can’t buy that. You can’t buy that trust. "
People are yearning for decency and kindness," he added.
Crist said he will announce a running-mate "soon."
Meanwhile, DeSantis will also be making a stop in the Bay Area. He will be at Pepin Hospitality Center in Tampa alongside other Republican candidates, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, for the second day of his "Florida Free" tour.
Crist won the Democratic nomination by nearly 25 points over Fried. As a former Republican governor, Crist said he feels like he can relate to voters on both sides of the aisle, but reiterated in his victory speech Tuesday that his focus is on Florida as rumors continue to circulate for a possible 2024 presidential bid for Gov. DeSantis.
"Gov. DeSantis only cares about the White House, he doesn’t care about your house," Crist said, eliciting applause from the crowd of roughly 250 people.
Crist also pledged to reverse some of DeSantis’ high-profile decisions and legislative priorities. For instance, Crist said he would reinstate suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren as one of his first acts as governor. DeSantis suspended Warren this month, citing a pledge by Warren not to prosecute people who provide abortions.
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Now, when DeSantis won the governor's mansion back in 2018, the margins were close enough to force a recount. Over the past four years, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor gained national notoriety.
DeSantis, who spent the final weeks of the primary traveling the nation and promoting school-board candidates in Florida, has about $10 million in his personal campaign account and his political committee had more than $122 million on hand.
DeSantis, who predicted a Crist victory on Tuesday morning, took shots at both Democratic candidates following a meeting of the Florida Cabinet.
"They have opposed every decision I’ve made to keep this state open, to keep people’s rights … to save jobs, to keep kids in school, to save businesses. And if we would have done what they wanted to do, shut down the state in July of 2020, which they asked me to do, and I refused, that would have hurt millions of people in this state," DeSantis told reporters.
While he’s widely viewed as one of the state’s most skilled retail politicians, Crist’s switching of parties and legacy of runs for office --- the 2022 governor’s race is his seventh statewide effort --- also expose a vulnerability that critics such as Fried repeatedly tried to exploit.