Charlie Crist Continues to Fundraise Amidst Hurricane Devastation

Just one day after Hurricane Ian exited Florida, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist continued requesting funds from supporters while Gov. Ron DeSantis refrained from campaigning.

Crist has previously been subject to widespread criticism over similar requests made before and during Hurricane Ian traversed Florida.

The Floridian was notified that Crist’s gubernatorial campaign sent out a campaign fundraising email on the first morning of October. The email read:

“Friends,

This weekend I’m going to talk to some members of Team Crist about some of our final plans as we enter the last full month before Election Day.

This is an important meeting, especially since Gov. DeSantis cranked up his spending on slanderous attack ads. To make it worse, he’s been flying all around the country to schmooze with his billionaire best buddies to fund these ads.

DeSantis is clearly panicking — he must’ve seen the latest poll showing him trailing by 6%.

Now, we’ve identified some areas where we can pick up some more support with a bit more money.

Right now, those funds aren’t in the budget, but I want to give the green light — because I am betting you’ll get us there. So what do you say?

I need you to make a $5 contribution to our campaign TODAY. Can I count on you to chip in $5 to defeat DeSantis once and for all?”

Crist, who has stated that emergency situations are “not time, obviously for any kind of politics,” is again coming under scrutiny for initiating political fundraising efforts in the midst of hurricane recovery.

During a Zoom press conference held to address Hurricane preparation issues, Crist remarked that "we all need to be focused on doing everything that we can do to protect our fellow Floridians, doing whatever we can to maintain that safety".

Again, Crist held a similar Zoom press event following Hurricane Ian's departure from Florida. When asked about Governor Ron DeSantis' hurricane response, Crist underscored that before commenting on hurricane politics "he wanted to give it a little time and make sure that we're focused on doing what's right and giving attention and aid to our fellow Floridians and fellow Americans" .

As such, some Floridians are not convinced by Crist’s statements, as they perceive the recently sent campaign emails to be hypocritical. Additionally, the schematics of Crist’s fundraising operation are independently controversial. While Floridians start the month struggling to re-collect the pieces from their shattered livelihoods, Crist starts his month by seemingly ignoring their suffering and instead requesting that they prioritize his campaign. Crist announced that his campaign operations would cease to help hurricane victims, but they didn't.

Nevertheless, Crist’s campaign is not alone in its efforts to fundraise during and after Hurricane Ian. In effect, Senatorial Candidate and US House Representative for Florida Val Demings was also reported on for her similar fundraising practices.

Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist’s campaign, nor Val Deming’s, have explained why their campaigns are choosing to continue fundraising efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ian.