by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Charlie Crist didn’t have much of a college football career. The Wake Forest walk-on was listed on the Demon Deacons’ roster as a quarterback from 1974-75, but the school doesn’t have any stats on him.
Today’s numbers are a lot better: a 9-10 point lead in a recent poll on the governor’s race and $7 million in the campaign coffers.
“I’m humbled by that,” said Crist, who is running while also serving as Attorney General under Gov. Jeb Bush. “We are going to raise as much as we can.”
Crist’s fate will be decided, in part, Sept. 5 when the public votes in the state and federal primary. Although the Supervisor of Elections Offices lists about 20 registered candidates for governor, the general consensus is there are four legitimate candidates: Crist, fellow Republic Tom Gallagher and Democrats Rod Smith and Jim Davis. Right now, Crist likes his chances.
“I consider them all to be tough opponents and I am running like I’m 20 points behind,” he said.
Crist is an Altoona, Pa. native who grew up in St. Petersburg. He left Wake Forest after two years and finished his undergraduate work at Florida State where he majored in government. He got his law degree from Samford’s Cumberland Law School. While at Wake Forest, Crist rubbed elbows with future PGA Tour members Curtis Strange and Jay Haas, who played on the school’s national championship golf team.
Today, Crist is juggling his current job and his potential future job. He’s on the road a lot and will be in Jacksonville today where he’ll spend time at the Emergency Operations Center and Baptist Hospital.
“Everything is going great and I am pleased with the progress. We are taking it one day at a time,” said Crist. “It’s a lot of work and I don’t get much sleep — about 4-5 hours a night. I work out in the morning and take my vitamins.”
Crist says there are two reasons he’s running for governor, one’s obvious and the other involves keeping the policies and initiatives Bush has implemented going.
“The practical reality is that Jeb can’t run again,” said Crist, referring to the fact that Bush must step down due to voter-imposed term limits. “I want to continue the policies he’s gotten started. Education is second to none. It’s what permits us to live our dreams.”
If elected, Crist said education would be at the forefront of his priority list. However, he wants to also make sure the state’s economy remains one of the best in the nation, he wants to assure it remains easy to do business in Florida and he wants to assure that Florida is a safe place to live, work and visit.
Crist said funding for education is paramount.
“I want to make sure we have the necessary funding for Florida kids and their education,” he said. “We have increased the education budget by over $1 billion every year.”
He also said that Florida’s recent population explosion is an asset to the state.
“We get 1,200 new people that move to the state every day and that’s great for Florida,” said Crist. “We have the lowest unemployment in the nation and the highest growth rate. We have a boundless reservoir of consumers who need houses and products. The growth is both a blessing and a challenge at the same time.”
Crist says the state’s infrastructure system and class size will be the two big issues the next governor must address, regardless who wins the Nov. 7 general election.
“We’re Floridians and I’m optimistic we can handle it,” he said. “I know we will.”