Former Gov. Charlie Crist officially announced his candidacy in the upcoming 2014 gubernatorial election in St. Petersburg on Monday.
Except this time, he’s running as a Democrat.
Crist will compete with Nan Rich in the Democratic primary with other candidates. Rich was a state senator until 2012 when term limits forced her to retire from the senate.
Crist served as the Republican governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011, after which he endorsed President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. Months later, Crist changed affiliation from independent to the Democratic Party.
After an unsuccessful run as an independent for the U.S. Senate in 2010, Crist said he was running again to take back the state from incumbent candidate Gov. Rick Scott.
“We are a state that embraces outsiders, even outsiders like Rick Scott,” Crist said in a speech Monday. “We deserve a governor who believes all Floridians deserve a voice, not just those who agree with him, or who can write the biggest check.”
UF political science and sustainability studies senior Maria Martinez met Crist at the 2013 Florida Democratic State Party Conference in Orlando last month.
Martinez, 20, and Crist discussed the importance of environmental issues as well as LGBT equality and immigration.
“He was obviously gauging support and trying to see what issues mattered most to Floridians for the upcoming elections,” she said.
Martinez said she couldn’t say if she supported the former governor in his past elections, however she will most likely campaign for him in the upcoming race.
“I do feel like I share more ideological views with him now than back then,” she said.
UF College Republicans spokesman Michael Christ said Scott’s record compares favorably to Crist’s record, citing how unemployment has decreased and job creation has improved since Scott became governor after Crist.
He said UF College Republicans will support Scott for re-election.
“You clearly saw someone who was more concerned about his personal career and his own political ambitions than the state,” the 20-year-old political science junior said. “He’s about to run out of parties.”
Although history and economics senior Josh Cole might not vote in the upcoming election, the UF Libertarians president said Crist seems to be somewhat libertarian on social and economic issues.
“Combining those two could make a powerful candidate who has hopefully recognized that economic restrictions hurt the most vulnerable among us,” the 21-year-old said.
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 11/5/2013 under the headline "Charlie Crist announces candidacy for Florida governor"
