State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, who was once Florida’s governor, are running against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in November. On Elementary Day, Krist was in St. Petersburg where he has lived since he was a child. People know him as a neighbor and call him by his first name. In past elections, Crist has been out on City Visitor Day shaking hands, but on Tuesday he kept a fairly low profile. He was seen casting his own vote at a polling station in his hometown. He was also in Tampa meeting as a member of Congress with United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “A woman’s right to choose is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot,” he emphasized at a recent campaign stop. Crist leads Fried in money, endorsements and most polls. one D Voter Dick Oliver, who was at the polls in St. Pete, said he trusted Crist because of his record. “It has changed over time, but that is good. Some people never change.” Christ has changed. He was the Republican governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011, became the first elected Republican Attorney General of Florida from 2003-2007, and the Florida Commissioner of Education from 2001-2003. Now he’s a Democratic congressman whose evolving politics and party switching have been used against him as well as in his favor. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, Nikki Fried voted Tuesday and then went to a cabinet meeting with DeSandis. She claims he paid for the meeting with an inflated agenda to keep her from campaigning. “He’s afraid I might win tonight, so he’s doing his best to keep me out of the campaign. It’s unfortunate that this is only our second cabinet meeting of the year, and if I know this governor, it will be the last,” Fried said. one D DeSantis had words for Fried: “She had an opportunity to be the only Democrat elected statewide to exercise some leadership and maybe get some things done and instead she used her time to basically try to burn me in daily basis”. But as soon as he could, he was in Wellington courting Democratic voters and then in Lauderhill. Fried says she believes Florida voters are tired of the “same old same old” that Crist is referring to and promises to bring something new to the table. He wants to improve the economy, gun safety, education, and he wants to protect a woman’s right to choose. She said her first order of business, if elected governor, would be to declare a state of emergency for women’s reproductive health. See the Governor results below as they appear: 0% of Regions Report (0 / 5,995) Copyright 2022 by WPLG Local10.com – All Rights Reserved.
