Crist Dubs Himself as the 'Strongest Candidate' Against DeSantis

Florida Democrats are rallying support for Florida Rep. Charlie Crist (D) as their political party and gubernatorial candidates face criticism from GOP members over their prospects of winning in the 2022 midterm elections.  Rep, Crist and his team argue that he is “the strongest candidate to take on Gov. DeSantis.”

Though Governor DeSantis has largely disregarded his candidacy, Crist’s team says that recent “attack ads” prove that DeSantis and the GOP view him as a threat.

In the message directed to his supporters, the Crist notes that “we… expected them to shamelessly attack Charlie for working with President Obama to help Floridians during the Great Recession… and that’s exactly what they are doing!”

In the 2010 Florida Senate election, Crist challenged Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) for his senate seat, which Rubio ultimately won. In his platform, Crist supported the Stimulus Act of 2009, which many Republicans opposed, and which ultimately led to the Tea Party movement.

The movement, which began in 2009, “opposed Obama’s economic stimulus package, which passed largely without Republican support.”

However, Crist’s team argues that the criticism against him is “disgusting” and that they are only an example of GOP members “grasping at straws to attack Charlie because they’re desperate to pivot attention away from Gov.DeSantis’s failures.”

The message then outlines a number of claims such as Governor DeSantis being “soft on COVID-19,” “pushing far-right policies like abortion bans and voter suppression laws,” “putting his donors over Floridians because he wants to run for president in 2024,” and “politicizing vaccines and public health measures.”

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary race, Crist also faces Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) and state Senator Annette Taddeo (D), whom was previously Crist’s running mate in his previous gubernatorial run.

Most recently, Commissioner Fried likened DeSantis to Hitler, which generated backlash.