2014 Florida Governor's race: on Civil Rights

Charlie Crist: I support same-sex marriage

Crist supports allowing same-sex marriage in Florida and said Florida's current ban is discriminatory. Scott declined to say whether he considers it discriminatory, but said he supports "traditional marriage."
Crist wants the state to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage. Scott said he'd only temporarily expand Medicaid if it were 100 percent federally funded.
Crist supports increasing the minimum wage. Scott does not.

Source: Miami Herald on 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debate Oct 15, 2014

Rick Scott: I support traditional marriage

For the roughly 7 percent of voters who remain undecided there were plenty of clear differences to consider:

Crist supports allowing same-sex marriage in Florida and said Florida's current ban is discriminatory. Scott declined to say whether he considers it discriminatory, but said he supports "traditional marriage."
Crist wants the state to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage. Scott said he'd only temporarily expand Medicaid if it were 100 percent federally funded.

Source: Miami Herald on 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debate Oct 15, 2014

Charlie Crist: I left GOP because they bash Obama's race

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (D) said Tuesday that a "big reason" why he left the Republican Party was because many in the GOP were hostile to President Obama due to his race.

Crist said that he felt uncomfortable with his previous party affiliation. Republicans are perceived as "anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, [and] anti-gay," he said, and they refuse to compromise with Obama. The ex-governor said he feels, "liberated as a Democrat."

"I couldn't be consistent with myself and my core beliefs, and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I'll just go there," he said. "I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing, it was intolerable to me."

Crist left the GOP

Source: Fusion.net e-zine on 2014 Florida gubernatorial race May 6, 2014

Charlie Crist: 2010: Backed gay marriage ban; 2014: supports gay marriage

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is trying to make amends with the gay community--and the Democratic base-over his record on marriage equality. The Republican-turned-Democrat, who's running for his old job, directly apologized for previously supporting a state ban on same-sex unions. "I'm sorry I did that," Crist said in response to backing Amendment 2 to Florida's Constitution. "It was a mistake. I was wrong. Please forgive me."

After being pressed further, Crist once again addressed his evolving stance on the topic: "I made a mistake. I'm not perfect," he said. "That's the journey I'm on, and I'm still on it."

In 2010, he stood by the ban and said that he believes marriage is "a sacred institution between a man and a woman." Crist said he was inspired by President Obama to finally come out in support of marriage equality. "Everybody deserves to love who they want to. Everybody deserves to marry who they want to. Even the Pope has said, 'Who am I to judge?'"

Source: MSNBC coverage of 2014 Florida gubernatorial race Jan 3, 2014

The above quotations are from 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debates and race coverage. Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Rick Scott on Civil Rights. Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Civil Rights.
*Candidates and political leaders on Civil Rights:*
*Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:* GA:Chambliss(R) IA:Harkin(D) MI:Levin(D) MT:Baucus(D) NE:Johanns(R) OK:Coburn(R) SD:Johnson(D) WV:Rockefeller(D) *Resigned from 113th House:* AL-1:Jo Bonner(R) FL-19:Trey Radel(R) LA-5:Rod Alexander(R) MA-5:Ed Markey(D) MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R) NC-12:Melvin Watt(D) SC-1:Tim Scott(R)	*Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:* AR-4:Tom Cotton(R) GA-1:Jack Kingston(R) GA-10:Paul Broun(R) GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R) HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D) IA-1:Bruce Braley(D) LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R) ME-2:Mike Michaud(D) MI-14:Gary Peters(D) MT-0:Steve Daines(R) OK-5:James Lankford(R) PA-13: