Tamara Lush
He’s been Florida’s Republican governor, was considered a potential vice presidential candidate and almost became a U.S. Senator. But Charlie Crist is aiming a bit lower for his political comeback in 2016, running for the U.S. House after switching his party to Democrat.
The always smiling, always suntanned Crist is running against U.S. Rep. David Jolly in a redrawn district including his hometown of St. Petersburg, following a redistricting process widely seen as eroding advantages of incumbents and possibly allowing Democrats to gain a few seats.
He will be unopposed in the Democratic primary Aug. 30. But the two Republicans competing for their party’s nomination on the same day feel the former governor’s complicated political past will make him vulnerable. Crist — who once called himself a Reagan Republican — now gives opening speeches for Hillary Clinton when she campaigns in town.
At least one political expert says the district is Crist’s to lose — but then again, he’s been up in polls before, and lost.
“He’s got universal name recognition and most people who meet him, like him a great deal. He’s got as great political skills as any candidate in the state of Florida,” said Darryl Paulson, an emeritus professor of government at the University of South Florida.
Crist, 60, never seems to forget a name or fail to shout “I love you back” when a supporter expresses admiration.
“His downside is his political ambition. He has seldom held a job that he’s run for a second time. He’s developed an image for someone who is always looking for the next position,” Paulson said.
Crist, an attorney who was Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011, was cited as a possible VP pick for John McCain in 2008. He ran for Senate as a Republican in 2010 but lost to Marco Rubio in the primary. Crist then switched parties, ran in the general as an independent and lost. He then switched parties again, becoming a Democrat, and ran unsuccessfully for governor against Rick Scott in 2014.
Jolly, 43, who has been in office only two years, earlier had announced he would run for U.S. Senate. But when Marco Rubio dropped out of the presidential race and said he would run for re-election, Jolly got out of the race.
First, Jolly must defeat a challenger in the Republican primary. His race against Mark Bircher is something of a microcosm for Republican races around the country: Jolly is among the incumbents who are uneasy, or unwilling, to endorse the controversial top-of-the-ticket candidate, Donald Trump.
Jolly isn’t supporting Trump. But Bircher, a retired Marine Corps Reserve brigadier general, commercial pilot and lawyer, favors the New York Republican.
Jolly says his biggest accomplishments are taking on campaign finance reform and backing a bill that would prohibit members of Congress from directly soliciting campaign contributions. He also knows his views on Trump are setting him apart.
“It is obvious we are a divided party. Anybody who says otherwise is disingenuous,” he said. “Party matters a little bit less than community does. I have not endorsed Trump, nor do I defend him. He is not somebody that I am supporting.”
Bircher, 63, spent most his life outside of the political realm. He first ran for office in 2014. He came in third in the primary, receiving 25.5 percent of the vote in the election Jolly won.
He says Jolly hasn’t been conservative enough, citing Jolly’s votes for immigration amnesty, the Affordable Care Act and his bill to prohibit people on the FBI’s watch list from buying a firearm in the United States.
Bircher says he will donate his net salary to Pinellas County charities if elected.
He endorsed Trump in the summer, writing in a statement that he welcomed “the change he has brought to the political process run by the establishment.”
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
