Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr., born July 24, 1956 is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator, Education Commissioner, and Attorney General. He was elected governor in 2006 with 52.4 percent of the vote (against opponent Jim Davis), and took office the following year.
Crist's term as governor ended in January 2011. Crist announced on May 12, 2009 that he would run instead for the United States Senate seat being vacated by then-fellow Republican Mel Martinez. He later decided to run as an independent in the general election, but lost to Republican Marco Rubio.
Early life and education
Crist was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1956, to Charles Joseph Crist, Sr., an American physician of Greek Cypriot descent, and Nancy (née Lee), of Scots-Irish American descent. His family name is adapted from the original Greek name "Christodoulou. Crist moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, as a child, where he attended Riviera Middle School and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1974. He is the second of four children and has three sisters: Margaret Crist Wood, Elizabeth Crist Hyden, and Catherine Crist Kennedy. He attended Wake Forest University for two years, where he played quarterback for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. Crist earned his undergraduate degree from Florida State University where he was elected Vice President of the student body and became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He received his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Alabama.
Personal life
In July 1979, Crist married Amanda Morrow; they divorced less than a year later. Crist became engaged to Carole Rome on July 3, 2008 after 9 months of dating, and was married on December 12 of that year at the First Methodist Church of St. Petersburg, where Crist is a member.
In April 2009, Crist was one of the subjects of the documentary Outrage, which purports to out politicians who are closeted and opposed LGBT rights legislation. Crist has stated he is not gay.
In April 2011, as part of a settlement of a copyright lawsuit brought by musician David Byrne, Crist apologized for his Senate campaign's use of Byrne's song Road to Nowhere without permission authorization.
Law career
After graduating from law school in 1981, and having passed the bar on his third attempt, Crist was hired as general counsel to Minor league baseball, which was headquartered in St. Petersburg. Drawn to politics, Crist was a candidate for public office for the first time in 1986, as a Republican, in the primary race for a state Senate seat in Pinellas County. After losing in a runoff, Crist joined his brother-in-law in private practice in St. Petersburg, but soon returned to politics as an aide in the successful 1988 United States Senate campaign of Connie Mack III, whom he has since described as his political mentor.
Florida Senate
Crist was elected to the Florida Senate in 1992, representing parts of St. Petersburg, defeating longtime incumbent Democratic State Senator Helen Gordon Davis of Tampa. Crist was able to unseat Gordon Davis following Florida's redistricting, which created an entirely new state senate district. His victory was credited with ending the 128-year control of the Florida Senate by the Democratic Party, resulting in an even 20-20 tie in Senate between the Democrats and Republicans following the 1992 election.
He established a reputation as a law-and-order senator, sponsoring legislation requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. He supported teacher salary increases, co-sponsored laws that created charter schools, and created a vanity license plate sold to raise funds for Everglades conservation. As chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Crist pursued an investigation into actions of then-governor Lawton Chiles amid allegations that Chiles' campaign had made "scare calls" to senior citizens days before the 1994 gubernatorial election. Chiles eventually testified before Crist and the committee and admitted that his campaign had made the calls.
Florida Education Commissioner
Crist gained statewide name recognition in 1998 as the Republican challenger to the popular incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Graham. He lost to Graham by 26 percent but was elected Education Commissioner of Florida in 2000 – a position he held until it became an office filled by political appointment in 2003, pursuant to a 1998 constitutional amendment.
Florida Attorney General
In 2002, Crist was elected Attorney General. Supporters of his candidacy included America's Most Wanted host John Walsh, who filed Crist's gubernatorial candidacy paperwork, citing his work with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. During his term as Attorney General, Crist was praised by civil rights and consumer groups for expanding the powers of his office to prosecute civil rights and fraud cases; for combating spam e-mail; freezing utility rates; adding restrictions to telecom companies, and protecting the environment. He was criticized by pro-life advocates during the Terri Schiavo case when he ended official attempts to keep Schiavo on life support.
In September 2006, Canadian anti-consumer-fraud activist and author Les Henderson criticized Crist's handling of the Lou Pearlman-Wilhelmina Scouting Network affair in his self-published book Under Investigation. In 2004, Jacqueline Dowd, the assistant attorney general leading the investigation, was dismissed by the office of the Attorney General. Her successor, John MacGregor, ended the investigation in 2004.
Florida Governor
Crist has received criticism for his fiscal approach, for his support of President Barack Obama's fiscal policies, and for his official schedule.
Crist supported capital punishment and gun rights. In 2008 he signed a provision that prevents employers from prohibiting employees' bringing firearms to the workplace, as long as the weapons are secure and individuals maintain a concealed carry license.
His position on abortion issues is not clear-cut. In 1998 Crist ran for Senate as a pro-choice candidate, and has stated that he opposes overturning Roe vs. Wade. Crist has said that he opposes a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before a woman can undergo an abortion. In the 2010 Senate campaign, Crist first presented himself a pro-life Republican but after he lost the Republican nomination and became an unaffiliated candidate, had all pro-life statements removed from his website. On June 11, 2010 Crist vetoed a bill which would have removed taxpayer funding for abortion,as well as require a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.
Crist supported efforts to ban same-sex marriage in Florida, and supported the current ban on adoption by homosexual prospective parents – saying that a "traditional family provides the best environment for children. His position led gay rights groups to protest the passage of the Florida Amendment 2 (now Article 1 Section 27 of the Florida Constitution) ban on same-sex marriage during his wedding in 2008. He shifted in June 2010, when he stated that he no longer supported Florida's ban on same-sex adoption: "A better way and approach would be to let judges make that decision on a case-by-case basis."
On other issues, Crist differs from other Republicans, particularly on environmental policy, an important issue in Florida. He announced plans to sign executive orders to impose strict air pollution standards in the state, with aims to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent of the 1990 levels, by 2050 . In his gubernatorial campaign, Crist opposed offshore oil drilling. Crist altered that position in June 2008, when oil reached peak prices, saying "I mean, let's face it, the price of gas has gone through the roof, and Florida families are suffering, and my heart bleeds for them.
Political campaigns
Senator John McCain played a major role in Crist's 2006 campaign for governor, endorsing Crist and traveling the state to campaign with him. The day before the general election, Crist chose to hold a campaign event with McCain in Jacksonville. Later, when the Republican Presidential primary debates were held in St. Petersburg, Crist embraced McCain and offered a tepid welcome to the other presidential candidates. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who had campaigned for Crist during the gubernatorial election, had sought his endorsement to support a campaign strategy that relied on winning the Florida primary.
In May 2007 Crist signed a bill moving the date of Florida's presidential primary to January 29, 2008. Such adjustments of state primary dates – intended to increase the prominence of an individual states' role in the nominating process of the major political process and known as front-loading – are a violation of the primary rules of both major parties. The change prompted the Democratic National Committee to strip Florida (and Michigan, which made a similar change) of their superdelegates and 50 percent of their regular delegates to the Democratic nominating convention, and the Republican National Committee said it would strip 50% of all of the state's delegates. Crist joined Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm in demanding that their states' delegates be seated. Ultimately, the Democratic National Committee decided to seat all Florida and Michigan delegates while granting each delegate a half vote, and the Republican National Committee came to a similar conclusion.
On January 26, 2008, Crist endorsed McCain in the Republican primary race, saying, "He's a great friend and will do a great job for the United States. McCain later won the primary by five percentage points.
On October 28, 2008 Crist extended early voting hours of operation and declared that a "state of emergency exists" due to record voter turnout and resultant hours-long waits at locations throughout the state. Some Republican operatives were disappointed with the decision, including one anonymous source who said "He just blew Florida for John McCain.
On October 29 and October 31, 2008, Crist appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe in which he told former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough that the race was tightening in Florida.
2010 Senate campaign
Crist announced May 12, 2009 that he would not run for re-election as Governor and would run for the US Senate in 2010. His main Republican opponent was House Speaker Marco Rubio, in addition to Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek.
Crist was considered the front runner in the Republican primary, but eventually trailed Rubio by 20 points in polls.
As a result, Crist announced his intent to run as an unaffiliated candidate in the 2010 senate election, while at the same time, according to a press release from his campaign, he would remain a registered Republican. Crist officially changed his registration status to "non party affiliated" on May 13, 2010. After initially signaling that Crist might return former campaign donors' contributions, Crist's campaign later indicated that it will not do so. Crist eventually lost the race to the more conservative Republican candidate Marco Rubio by 20% of the vote.
