OnTheIssuesLogo

Charlie Crist on Local Issues

Republican

 


Sued Florida Power when they raised rates abruptly

Florida Power had raised its rates abruptly. People were livid when they opened their bills. We had a hearing in the Senate on the rate hike. But I felt like I should do something more personal and direct.

I sued Florida Power, though not as a state senator. I filed as myself, a consumer. I didn't have the state pay the legal bills. I paid for the suit myself. Some of my fellow Republicans were definitely shaking their heads at that. In a few special cases--this was one of them--the look was put into words.

"What are you doing?" Senator Grant wanted to know. "These are our friends. These are the guys who support us and help get us elected and raise money for us. You'll regret this. They're too powerful to mess around with."

"I respect how you feel," I told him. "But it's not how I feel. They're being unfair to the people who elected me, and I can't let that stand. What they're doing is wrong."

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p. 47-48 , Feb 4, 2014

Supported $2.4B federal funding of I-4 corridor

For almost 3 decades, Florida had been discussing high-speed rail. Once I was governor, it took 3 special sessions of the legislature and some extraordinary work by the state Transportation Dept. As my term was ending, everything was all but wrapped in a bow--the politics, the funding, the local approvals, the right-of-ways, literally everything except depositing Washington's check in the bank. People were genuinely excited about what was coming our way: state-of-the-art trains racing along the median strip of Interstate 4 at 170 mph between Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando, a rail link that could stretch eventually to Miami.

Development would be spurred along the I-4 corridor, creating more investment and more jobs. And if the modern train service happened to take a few cars off the congested interstate, call that a welcome bonus. Did I mention the feds were paying for everything? Yes, everything.

Six weeks after taking office, the new governor announced he was rejecting the entire $2.4 billion.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.303-5 , Feb 4, 2014

Other governors on Local Issues: Charlie Crist on other issues:
FL Gubernatorial:
Adam Putnam
Alexander Snitker
Andrew Gillum
Bill Nelson
Gwen Graham
Nikki Fried
Philip Levine
Rick Scott
Ron DeSantis
Wayne Messam
FL Senatorial:
Bill Nelson
Carlos Lopez-Cantera
David Jolly
Edward Janowski
Marco Rubio
Pam Keith
Patrick Murphy
Rick Scott
Ron DeSantis
Gubernatorial Debates 2021:
CA Recall:
S.D.Mayor Kevin_Faulconer(R)
vs.Former Gov. nominee John Cox(R)
vs.Former U.S.Rep Doug Ose(R)
Laura Smith(R)
vs.Former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner(R)
NJ: Incumbent Phil Murphy(D)
vs.State Rep. Jack Ciattarelli(R)
vs.Candidate Hirsh Singh(R)
vs.GOP Hair Doug Steinhardt(R)
VA: Incumbent Ralph Northam(D,term-limited)
vs.Former Governor Terry McAuliffe(D)
vs.CEO Glenn Youngkin(R)
vs.A.G. Mark Herring(D)
vs.State Sen. Amanda Chase(I)
vs.Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax(D)
vs.State Rep. Jennifer Carroll Foy(D)
vs.State Rep. Lee Carter(D)
vs.State Sen. Jennifer McClellan(D)
vs.State Rep. Kirk Cox(R)
vs.CEO Pete Snyder(R)

Gubernatorial Debates 2022:
AK: Incumbent Mike Dunleavy(R)
vs.Bill Walker(? D)
vs.Al Gross(? I)
AL: Incumbent Kay Ivey(R)
(no prospective opponents yet)
AR: Incumbent Asa Hutchinson(R,term-limited)
vs.Trump Adviser Sarah Huckabee Sanders(R)
vs.A.G. Leslie Rutledge(R)
vs.Ricky Dale Harrington(L)
vs.Anthony Bland(D)
AZ: Incumbent Doug Ducey(R,term-limited)
vs.Paul Gosar(? R)
Mayor Marco Lopez(D)
vs.Former news anchor Kari Lake(R)
vs.Secretary of State Katie Hobbs(D)
vs.State Treasurer Kimberly Yee(R)
CA: Incumbent Gavin Newsom(D)
vs.S.D.Mayor Kevin_Faulconer(R)
vs.Former Gov. nominee John Cox(R)
vs.Antonio Villaraigosa(? D)
CO: Incumbent Jared Polis(D)
vs.Mayor Greg Lopez(R)
CT: Incumbent Ned Lamont(D)
vs.Bob Stefanowski(? R)
FL: Incumbent Ron DeSantis(R)
vs.Former Gov.Charlie Crist(D)
vs.Rep.Stephanie Murphy(? D)
vs.Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried(D)
GA: Incumbent Brian Kemp(R)
vs.Minority Leader Stacey Abrams(D)
vs.Senate candidate Shane Hazel(L)
vs.State Rep.Vernon Jones(R)
vs.2020 candidate Kandiss Taylor(R)
HI: Incumbent David Ige(D,term-limited)
vs.Rep. Tulsi Gabbard(? D)
vs.Marissa Kerns(R)
IA: Incumbent Kim Reynolds(R)
vs.U.S.Rep. Cindy Axne(? R)
ID: Incumbent Brad Little(R)
vs.Raul Labrador(R)
vs.Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin(R)
IL: Incumbent J.B. Pritzker(D)
vs.State Sen.Darren Bailey(R)
KS: Incumbent Laura Kelly(D)
vs.Jeff Colyer(R)
vs.State Sen.Derek Schmidt(R) 		Gubernatorial Debates 2022 (continued):
MA: Incumbent Charlie Baker(R)
vs.Lt.Gov.Karyn Polito(R)
vs.State Rep. Geoff Diehl(R)
vs.Harvard Professor Danielle Allen(D)
vs.State Sen.Ben Downing(D)
MD: Incumbent Larry Hogan(R,term-limited)
vs.State Rep. Robin Ficker(R)
vs.State Rep. Peter Franchot(D)
vs.State Del.Kelly M. Schulz(R)
vs.Secretary John B. King(D)
vs.Obama administration Ashwani Jain(D)
vs.State attorney-general Doug Gansler(D)
vs.Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz(R)
vs.County executive Rushern Baker(D)
ME: Incumbent Janet Mills(D)
vs.Former Gov. Paul LePage(R)
MI: Incumbent Gretchen Whitmer(D)
vs.Chief James Craig(R)
MN: Incumbent Tim Walz(DFL)
vs.Mayor Mike Murphy(R)
vs.State Sen.Scott Jensen(R)
NE: Incumbent Pete Ricketts(R,term-limited)
vs.U.S.Senator Bob Krist(R)
vs.Chuck Herbster(R)
NH: Incumbent Chris Sununu(R)
vs.Dan Feltes(D)
vs.Kelly Ayotte(? R)
NM: Incumbent Michelle Lujan Grisham(D)
vs.Commissioner Jay Block(R)
NV: Incumbent Steve Sisolak(D)
vs.A.G.Adam Laxalt(R)
vs.U.S.Rep. Mark Amodei(? R)
vs.North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee(R)
NY: Incumbent Andrew Cuomo(D)
vs.Lt.Gov.Kathy Hochul(D)
vs.Rob Astorino(R)
vs.Andrew Giuliani(R)
vs.US.Rep.Lee Zeldin(R)
OH: Incumbent Mike DeWine(R)
vs.Former Rep.Jim Renacci(R)
vs.Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley(D)
vs.Mayor John Cranley(D)
OK: Incumbent Kevin Stitt(R)
vs.State Sen. Ervin Yen(R)
OR: Incumbent Kate Brown(D,term-limited)
vs.Gov. nominee Bud Pierce(R)
vs.Paul Romero(R)
PA: Incumbent Tom Wolf(D,term-limited)
vs.U.S.Rep. Lou Barletta(R)
vs.Commissioner Joe Gale(R)
vs.A.G.Josh Shapiro(D)
RI: Incumbent Gina Raimondo(D,to Cabinet)
vs.Gov. Dan McKee(D)
vs.Secy.Matt Brown(? D)
vs.Mayor Allan Fung(R)
vs.Luis-Daniel Munoz(D)
vs.RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea(D)
SC: Incumbent Henry McMaster(R)
vs.State Rep. James Emerson Smith(? D)
vs.US.Rep.Joe Cunningham(D)
vs.State senator Mia McLeod(D)
SD: Incumbent Kristi Noem(R)
vs.State Rep. Billie Sutton(? D)
TN: Incumbent Bill Lee(R)
vs.Senate nominee Marquita Bradshaw(? D)
TX: Incumbent Greg Abbott(R)
vs.Chad Prather(R)
vs.State Sen.Don Huffines(R)
vs.U.S.Rep. Allen West(R)
VT: Incumbent Phil Scott(R)
(no prospective opponents yet)
WI: Incumbent Tony Evers(D)
vs.CEO Jonathan Wichmann(R)
WY: Incumbent Mark Gordon(R)
vs.Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss(? D)

Gubernatorial Debates 2023:
KY: Incumbent Andy Beshear(D)
vs.Former Gov. Matt Bevin(? R)
Senator Rand Paul(? R)
LA: Incumbent John Bel Edwards(D,term-limited)
vs.Biden Adviser Cedric Richmond(? D)
vs.Senator John Neely Kennedy(? R)
MS: Incumbent Tate Reeves(R)
(no prospective opponents yet) 		Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Local Issues
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty


Contact info:
Email





Page last updated: Jul 28, 2021