The midterm elections are only 14 days away. In the Sunshine State, the race for governorship is underway with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis facing his Democratic challenger and former congressman Charlie Crist.
Monday night’s debate for Florida’s gubernatorial race was the first and last time the two candidates took the stage in Fort Pierce to sway their voters on issues like the economy, abortion, housing, illegal immigration and COVID-19 response.
DeSantis repeatedly linked the Democratic candidate to President Joe Biden, while Crist made the Florida governor’s ambitions of running for president his focus.
What do the polls say about Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist?
A Tampa Bay poll indicates that DeSantis is currently leading with 50% of voters compared to Crist’s 42%. Another poll from the University of South Florida also found voters leaning toward the Republican candidate, who is leading by 52% to Crist’s 31%.
The university poll also found that the economy was the biggest issue for voters.
“DeSantis is leading Crist among Latinos, a sign the GOP’s recent gains in those communities have outlasted former President Donald Trump’s unexpected success,” CNN noted. Meanwhile, 74% of Black voters skew toward Crist.
Campaign expenditure: Who spent more — Ron DeSantis or Charlie Crist?
As of mid-October, DeSantis had $98 million in contributions at hand compared to Crist’s $2.2 million, according to CNN.
The Florida governor has managed to attract out-of-state funding, a credit to his potential 2024 presidential election bid. Per Bloomberg, DeSantis’ long list of donors includes at least 10 billionaires. He’s raised $164 million since January last year, outdoing former President Donald Trump’s efforts.
“It’s not that he can’t raise from smaller donors. He has an impressive operation,” said Brian Ballard, a Tallahassee lobbyist and longtime fundraiser for DeSantis, per the report. “It’s nice that you can go out and raise money in large amounts, and he does it well.”
How did the debate go?
Crist portrayed DeSantis as uninterested in governorship as he eyes the presidential campaign.
“Running for president in 2024 — that’s all he cares about,” Crist said. “That’s all he thinks about. That’s all he’s doing.”
According to WFLA, at one point during the debate, Crist asked DeSantis to look his voters in the eye and promise them that he would serve as governor all four years if reelected.
To that, DeSantis responded that “the only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
The New York Times pointed out that the Democratic nominee was eager to talk about abortion and a 15-week abortion ban bill that includes no expectations — which DeSantis signed.
The Republican candidate stuck to usual talking points and accused Crist of supporting abortion up until birth — a misleading claim, since “abortion until the moment of birth doesn’t exist, even in states without gestational limits,” per the Times.
On other issues, DeSantis quickly tied Crist to the Biden administration’s policies, citing “Biden-Crist energy policies” for high gas prices and the “Biden-Crist economy” for inflation, per The Tallahassee Democrat.