Difference between revisions of "Charlie Crist"
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| − | '''Charlie Crist''' (1956- ), is the | + | '''Charlie Crist''' (1956- ), is the former Governor of the state of [[Florida]] and a former member of the [[Republican Party]]. |
| − | Crist | + | Crist ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010; his rival in the 2010 GOP primary was state House Speaker [[Marco Rubio]], a conservative Cuban American. Crist started trailing in the polls to Rubio by large margins and in April 2010 he decided to run as a Independent since it was almost certain he would lose the Republican nomination to Rubio. He lost to Rubio anyway, by a margin of 49% to 30%, with [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Kendrick Meek]] getting 20% of the vote. |
==Career== | ==Career== | ||
Revision as of 02:03, January 14, 2011
| Charlie Crist | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former Governor of Florida From: January 2, 2007 – January 4, 2011 | |||
| Predecessor | Jeb Bush | ||
| Successor | Rick Scott | ||
| 35th Attorney General of Florida From: 2003-2007 | |||
| Governor | Jeb Bush | ||
| Predecessor | Richard Doran | ||
| Successor | Bill McCollum | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican (until 2010) Independent | ||
| Spouse(s) | Carole Rome | ||
| Religion | Methodist | ||
Charlie Crist (1956- ), is the former Governor of the state of Florida and a former member of the Republican Party.
Crist ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010; his rival in the 2010 GOP primary was state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a conservative Cuban American. Crist started trailing in the polls to Rubio by large margins and in April 2010 he decided to run as a Independent since it was almost certain he would lose the Republican nomination to Rubio. He lost to Rubio anyway, by a margin of 49% to 30%, with Democrat Kendrick Meek getting 20% of the vote.
Career
Crist was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where his Greek grandparents had immigrated in 1912. His parents moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1960, where his father practiced medicine.
As a public school student Crist quickly learned the value of participation, leading him to serve as class president at St. Petersburg High School and, later, as student body vice president at Florida State University. In high school Crist was the starting quarterback for his football team. He later played football at Wake Forest University before transferring and receiving his undergraduate degree from Florida State in 1978. Governor Crist then earned his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.
Crist received invaluable experience in Florida’s criminal justice system while interning in the State Attorney’s Office before accepting a position as general counsel for the minor league division of the Baseball Commissioner’s Office.
Politics
Crist began his government service as state director for U.S. Senator Connie Mack before later returning to the private practice of law with the Tampa firm of Wood and Crist.
After a defeat in 1986, in 1992, Crist won a seat in the Florida Senate. For six years in the Senate, Governor Crist served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and as Chairman of the Appropriations Criminal Justice Subcommittee. A strong voice for public safety, he sponsored, among other legislation, the Stop Turning Out Prisoners (STOP) bill requiring prisoners to serve at least 85% of their prison sentences.
After Crist completed his Senate service, Republican Governor Jeb Bush appointed him as Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Christ challenged Democratic Senator Bob Graham in 1998, losing 38%-62%.
In 2000, Governor Crist won a special election and became Florida’s last elected Commissioner of Education. He was elected Attorney General in 2002. He carried the general election by more than one-third of a million votes to become Florida’s first elected Republican Attorney General.
Record as Governor
On November 7, 2006, Charlie Crist was elected to serve as Florida’s Governor.[1] Although he has held conservative positions on social issues, such as broadening the use of capital punishment [2], and he also signed legislation that allows employees, customers and those invited to a business establishment to keep guns locked in their motor vehicles, as long as they have a concealed weapons license. Liberal critics dubbed it "bring your gun to work day." [3] He also supported a ban on gay adoption. [4]
On economics however, his actions have alienated conservatives. Crist supported President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package. With a $2.4 billion state deficit, Crist vetoed Republican proposals to reduce $365 million from the budget. [5] In December of 2008, when the state economy was plunging, Governor Crist took a 12 day trip to Europe with his fiancée that cost taxpayers $430,000. [6] Crist defended it as a trip to promote free trade.
Although Crist opposed offshore oil drilling during his gubernatorial campaign, he changed his position, saying "I mean, let's face it, the price of gas has gone through the roof, and Florida families are suffering, and my heart bleeds for them." [7]
Crist's style is folksy and he searches for bipartisanship. His handling of the great hurricanes of 2005-6 was widely praised. He appointed one moderate and two conservatives to the state supreme court. His support for John McCain helped carry the state primary and defeated Mitt Romney.
Crist demonstrated his support of gambling when he "signed a new gambling compact (August 31, 2009) with the Seminole Tribe, worth an estimated $6.8 billion over 20 years."[8]
References
- ↑ Crist's Biography
- ↑ http://issues2000.org/Governor/Charlie_Crist_Crime.htm
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0948339420080409
- ↑ http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2008/as-nation-1001-0-8i30u4543.htm
- ↑ http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/875453.html
- ↑ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/local_news/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/08/1208europe.html
- ↑ http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91CGGV81&show_article=1
- ↑ http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/01/na-crist-signs-gaming-pact/
