Before former Gov. Charlie Crist even enters the 2014 gubernatorial race, Republicans are campaigning against him. (Screengrab of cristorylessons.tumblr.com.)
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Even though former Gov. Charlie Crist has not announced that he will run against Gov. Rick Scott in the 2014 Florida gubernatorial election, the Republican Party of Florida has already started a campaign to attack his record.
Crist, who once served as a Republican governor of Florida, has said he is considering a bid as a Democrat next year. During his run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 against tea party favorite Marco Rubio, Crist was slammed by Republicans for not being conservative enough as governor.
The GOP of Florida is now picking up some of the same criticisms in a new negative ad campaign before the race has even started.
According to The Palm Beach Post:
The “This Date In CRIST-ory” campaign features a Twitter account, Tumblr page and YouTube videos that focus on “failures and flip flops” from Crist’s not-too-distant Republican past.
The first installment highlights Crist’s 2009 support as a Republican governor for more than $2 billion in tax and fee increases after pledging not to increase taxes. The tax and fee hikes — which included $1 billion from higher driver license and other motor vehicle fees and another $1 billion from acigarettetax increase — were approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that year.
Longtime Republican Crist was elected governor as a member of the GOP in 2006, but fell behind Marco Rubio in a 2010 Republican primary for Senate and left the party to pursue an unsuccessful no-party bid in which he attracted significant Democratic support.
Even though a negative ad campaign seems premature at this point, this race is expected to be one of the most closely-watched and expensive gubernatorial races in the country. It’s a high-stakes election for both parties — not just Republicans, who are at risk of losing the governor’s mansion for the first time in more than a decade.
In fact, experts are expecting a deluge of negative ads leading up to this election.
According to the National Journal:
The race is one of the Democratic Governors Association’s top priorities. The governorship is a prize that has long eluded Florida Democrats—Florida hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 1994—and next year represents their best shot in some time. “Republicans want to hold on for dear life to the governor’s mansion, and Democrats would like nothing more than to take it back,” said University of South Florida political-science professor Susan MacManus.
In 2010, Scott spent more than $85 million, including $73 million of his own money, on his bid. Scott has already raised nearly $4.6 million for his reelection during the first three months of the year, and he could raise as much as $100 million, an amount Ballard has said the campaign will cost. Florida Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry says he doesn’t expect Scott to have to pour his own money into the campaign.
“We’re always outspent in Florida, that’s no question, but we don’t need to match [Scott] dollar for dollar to win,” says Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux. “We’re going to have enough money to reach out to our voters and turn them out.”
Strategists from both parties say they expect their opponents to run negative campaigns. And there’s plenty of fodder to do so.
As of right now, Republicans have reason to be worried. Scott is one of the most unpopular governors in the country, and polling released earlier this year showed Crist would beat Scott 50 to 34 percent among registered Florida voters.