Rep. Charlie Crist won the Democratic nomination Tuesday to challenge incumbent Gov. Ron Desantis in Florida’s gubernatorial race.
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Crist, a former Republican governor who switched parties in 2012, defeated Nikki Fried, the state’s agriculture commissioner.
The general election, which has been ranked as likely Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, will be a challenging one for Democrats. But should they succeed in defeating DeSantis, it would be a blow to his political prospects as he reportedly weighs a White House bid. DeSantis has not declared his candidacy but is seen as a likely 2024 candidate.
On Twitter this week, Crist cast the election as a matter of ending DeSantis’s presidential campaign before it begins.
We aren’t just making DeSantis a one-term governor — we’re ending his 2024 presidential run.
The stakes are that high in this election, Florida. pic.twitter.com/rTL2oPxq6F
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) August 21, 2022
During their primary, Crist and Fried each tried to persuade voters they were the more viable option to defeat DeSantis. Fried sought to highlight Crist’s tenure as a former Republican lawmaker and used the slogan “something new” to highlight what she described as their generational differences.
Fried also campaigned on abortion access in the wake of a June Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, arguing Crist’s position on abortion shifted along with his party identification.
Politifact noted those changes, writing in April that “Crist’s stance has been consistently inconsistent.”
“He’s called himself both ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ throughout his career, defining them on his own terms,” the fact-check read.
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Crist sought to emphasize his own political experience and Fried‘s past connections to Republicans, including her reported friendship with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), an ally of former President Donald Trump.
