Charlie Crist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Charles Crist, Jr.
|
|
 |
|
|
44th Governor of Florida
|
|
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 2, 2007 |
|
| Lieutenant | Jeff Kottkamp |
| Preceded by | Jeb Bush |
|
|
|
| In office 2003 – 2007 |
|
| Governor | Jeb Bush |
| Preceded by | Richard E. Doran |
| Succeeded by | Bill McCollum |
|
|
|
| Born | July 24, 1956 Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Amanda Morrow (1979-1980) (divorced) Carole Rome (fiancée) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Website | Florida Governor Charlie Crist |
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. (born July 24, 1956), is an American politician of the Republican Party and the current Governor of Florida. Crist was Florida's attorney general when he won election to governor, thus becoming the first Florida cabinet official in 95 years to be elected governor (since Park Trammell).
Contents |
[edit] Early life and education
Crist was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania[1] to Dr. Charlie Crist Sr., a Greek-Cypriot American physician, and Nancy Lee, who is of Scots-Irish descent. The family surname had been legally changed by his father from "Christodoulou" to "Crist" in 1949, according to court records in Pinellas County, Florida.[citation needed] Crist later moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he attended Riviera Middle School[2] [3] and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1974. After high school, he attended Wake Forest University for two years, where he played at quarterback for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. Crist received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University where he was elected Vice President of the student body. He belongs to Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He received his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Alabama.
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
During law school, Crist interned in the State Attorney's Office. After graduating, Crist failed the Florida bar exam twice, before passing on his third attempt. [4] Crist served as general counsel to the minor league division of the Baseball Commissioner's Office. He worked for Senator Connie Mack and then entered the private practice of law.
[edit] Elective offices in Florida, 1992 to present
Crist was elected to the Florida Senate in 1992, representing parts of St. Petersburg.[5] As state senator, he was known for his support of chain gangs for state prison inmates, earning him the nickname "Chain Gang Charlie."[1] He supported teacher salary increases. He cosponsored the bill that created charter schools. He sponsored a bill requiring felons to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. He sponsored a license plate to raise funds for the Everglades.[5]
Crist became well known in state politics in 1998, when he challenged the popular incumbent Senator, Democrat Bob Graham, for his U.S. Senate seat but lost by 26 percent. In 1999, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Crist to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. In 2000, Crist was elected Education Commissioner of Florida, and he served in this capacity until 2003.[6]
[edit] Attorney General, 2003-2007
In 2002, Crist was elected Attorney General. Supporters of Crist's candidacy included America's Most Wanted host John Walsh, who publicly filed Crist's gubernatorial candidacy paperwork, citing his work with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. During his tenure as attorney general, Crist was lauded by civil rights and consumer groups for expanding the powers of the Attorney General to prosecute civil rights and fraud cases. He received acclaim for his work to combat spam e-mails, freeze utility rates, end telecom deception, and protect the environment.[citation needed] He was strongly criticized by some advocates of government intervention in the Terri Schiavo right to life case when he abandoned further official attempts to keep Schiavo on life support. He was also criticized for not using his powers to investigate Schiavo's missing Department of Children and Families file.
Canadian anti-consumer-fraud activist and author Les Henderson criticized Crist's handling of the Lou Pearlman Wilhelmina Scouting Network affair in his September 2006 book Under Investigation. Henderson's book presents documentary evidence that Assistant Attorney General Jacqueline Dowd was forced to resign by Crist's office when she refused to stop investigating the scam, and that she had been intending to file charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.[7][8] A lawsuit stemming from the alleged Lou Pearlman Ponzi Scheme and investment scandal alleges that Crist delayed or interfered with investigations into Pearlman in return for campaign donations, use of private jets, home, and skyboxes.[9]
[edit] 2006 gubernatorial race
Crist consistently led Democratic opponent Jim Davis in statewide opinion polling during the fall of 2006, and so opted to skip a politically-risky appearance with President Bush. Crist had reasoned that the Pensacola area was already firmly in his camp, and instead decided to appear in a more closely-contested area with Arizona Sen. John McCain. Davis accused Crist of trying to avoid being associated with the unpopular President, whose job-approval rating stood at 34 percent nationally and merely 29 percent within Florida.[10]
Crist also led his opponents in fundraising throughout the campaign, but his activities were occasionally controversial. One of Crist's backers was real estate mogul Donald Trump, whose guests at a Crist fundraiser included a former Ukrainian official in the country illegally, as well as the owner of a company under investigation by Crist's office. Crist later returned the donations from the companies under investigation, while the Ukrainian official's fee was paid by another guest. Further controversy set in, however, when ethics complaints were filed against Crist and his chief of staff for failing to investigate a major donor, personnel firm Convergys, that has been plagued by lawsuits and prison sentences for its role in the inadequate protection of state employees' social security numbers.
The Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a member of Crist's team and the Worldwide Christian Church, also generated controversy after being dismissed from his position on the Broward Judicial Nominating Commission for calling Islam a "cult" and a "dangerous religion", and opposing the construction of a mosque on the grounds that "we don't want our area to be a breeding ground for terrorists". [11] When questioned about Dozier, Crist initially declined to take action on Dozier and said that he was "happy" with the help he got.[12] However, Crist later told his staff to remove Dozier from all campaign committees, saying "While Charlie Crist respects Rev. Dozier's right to express his political and religious beliefs, he does not agree with Rev. Dozier's recent statements and writings concerning Islam".[13][14]
[edit] Platform
Crist's platform as a gubernatorial candidate included a "pro-life and pro-family" approach to abortion[15][16], $3,000 subsidies to heterosexual adoptive parents and $5,000 subsidies to foster parents, advocation of parent choice and strict, standardized testing in education, prescription drug tracking for assurance of safety and proper health care, less expensive homeowners insurance, report cards for insurance companies, abolition of citizens insurance, support for right to die, including respect for living wills, legal protection in eminent domain cases, lawsuit reform through elimination of joint and several liability, property tax flexibility, support for Florida's Defense of Marriage Act, cautious support for the death penalty[17], gun owner rights (endorsed by the National Rifle Association as an "A+" candidate)[18], efforts to stop the "clear pattern of growth" in hate crimes, support for closed borders with promotion of legal immigration, opposition to further statewide expansion of legal gambling, and support for environmental protections such as a ban on oil drilling near Florida's coastline.
[edit] Governor of Florida
[edit] Emission controls
In July 2007, Crist announced plans to sign executive orders that would impose strict air-pollution standards in the state, with aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent of the 1990 levels by 2050. Crist's orders would set new emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks, toughen conservation goals for state agencies, and require state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels.[19]
[edit] Creation of Research Flagship Universities
During Florida's 2007 Legislative Session, Governor Charlie Crist signed into law SB-1710 which allowed the Board of Governors to allow Tuition Differential only for the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida (determined by law as the Research Flagships of the State University System). This legislation ultimately created a tier system for higher education in Florida's State University System.[20]
[edit] Disputes with insurance companies
In 2007, Governor Crist became embroiled in public disputes with property insurers over homeowners' insurance rates. Governor Crist had expected insurers to lower their rates with new reinsurance coverage available from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. However, insurers have found that although the FHCF will offer them complete coverage, there are significant doubts in the marketplace as to whether the FHCF will be able to make good on those claims. Ratings agencies (such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and A. M. Best) have warned insurers that if they accept too much reinsurance from FHCF, they risk being downgraded. With such a warning in hand, insurers have instead gone to the private reinsurance market for much of their reinsurance, and have found significantly higher rates.
[edit] On race relations
Democratic Representative Terry Fields of Jacksonville, Florida referred to Crist as the state's "first black governor", saying, "Charlie Crist has been a friend to the African-American community even before he became governor".
He is the first Republican governor to accept the state's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) invitation to a convention and endorsed legislation requiring paper records of all ballots cast during an election, stemming from criticisms in black communities that believed they were being undercounted by computerized voting machines. [21]
[edit] Death penalty
- Further information: Capital punishment in Florida
Crist is a longtime advocate of capital punishment.[22][23] He has commented, It's very difficult. I feel the weight of that duty. Yet I understand that justice requires it.[24]
During his tenure as attorney general of Florida, he represented the state in 10 death penalty cases resulting in execution. As governor, Crist extended the moratorium on executions which his predecessor, Jeb Bush in late 2006 had imposed in response to the botched lethal injection of Ángel Nieves Díaz. Crist resumed signing death warrants in 2008. Mark Dean Schwab was executed on July 1.[25][26]
[edit] Repeal of ban on adoption by homosexuals
Florida banned gays and lesbians from adopting children in the 1970s. As of March 2008, it is the only state that has such a ban. Crist has said he opposes any change to the ban.[27]
[edit] Personal
In July 1979, Crist married Amanda Marrow. The couple had no children and divorced less than a year later.
In January 2007, reports surfaced of a 1989 paternity claim by Rebecca O'Dell Townsend, nee Wharrie, who gave birth to a girl and put her up for adoption, claiming Crist was the father. Crist signed an affidavit and other paperwork in May 1989 stating he was denying paternity and claimed no parental rights. However, the issue came up again eighteen years later, some say because it was raised by Crist's political enemies, others because the girl had reached the age when she wanted to know more about her birth parents. The St. Petersburg Times questioned the Governor's office about the possibility of DNA testing and were told by the Governor's staff that the question was "inappropriate". [28]
On 3 July 2008, Gov. Crist announced he had gotten engaged to be married to Carole Rome.[29][30]
Crist is a member of the First Methodist Church of St. Petersburg.
[edit] Electoral history
| Florida Gubernatorial Election, 2006 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Republican | Charlie Crist | 2,519,845 | 52.2 | ||
| Democratic | Jim Davis | 2,178,289 | 45.1 | ||
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Morgan, Lucy (2005-05-09). "Crist Will Enter Governor's Race" 1A. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
- ^ "PUBLIC EDUCATION: Like herding FCATs, Crist's challenge is elusive: Make accountability appealing." St. Petersburg Times (Florida). February 25, 2007
- ^ "Crist's politics getting greener; Not all support focus on global warming." Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida). April 22, 2007
- ^ Hegarty, Stephen (September 1, 2001). "Candidate failed 2 bar exams;Florida's top educator, who hopes to be its top legal officer, says failing taught him "never give up.", St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
- ^ a b Morris, Allen and Joan Perry Morris, compilers. The Florida Handbook 2007-2008 31st Biennial Edition. Page 31. Peninsula Publishing. Tallahassee. 2007. ISBN 978-0-9765846-1-2 Softcover ISBN 978-0-9765846-2-9 Hardcover
- ^ This office was converted to an appointive one in 2003 in accordance with a 1998 constitutional amendment.
- ^ bizjournals.com Dowd leaves attorney general's office
- ^ Gainsville.com Book: Crist tried to 'whitewash' probe
- ^ St. Petersburg Times March 6, 2007 "Lawsuit faults Crist in giant Ponzi scheme"
- ^ Fla. GOP Candidate Snubs Bush - Associated Press, Nov. 6, 2006
- ^ Anything but straight - Falls Church News-Press, July 13, 2006
- ^ Religious Tolerance is Booed loudly - The Miami Herald, 13 July 2006
- ^ Crist dumps preacher who ranted on Islam - The Miami Herald. 23 September 2006.
- ^ Pastor appointed by Bush won't apologize for remarks on Islam - The Bradenton Herald (Associated Press), July 11, 2006
- ^ Gallagher Takes Off the Gloves; Crist Retaliates - The Tampa Tribune (Media General), August 21, 2006
- ^ However, Crist said that he would not sign a South Dakota-style bill when asked whether or not he would by a Miami radio station. When asked during debates with Gallagher, Crist said that he is "pro-life" but that he doesn't want to change the law. Crist would sign abortion ban, discusses adoption proposal - Naples Daily News , March 23, 2006
- ^ Execution Puts Crist To Test Tampa Bay Online (TBO.com), December 15, 2006
- ^ NRA candidate scores
- ^ Florida To Introduce Tough Greenhouse Gas Targets
- ^ [1] Orlando Sentinel Article.
- ^ Brendan Farrington (October 11, 2007). "Gov. Crist lauded by African-Americans, called 'first black governor'" ([dead link]). South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
- ^ Charlie Crist on Crime
- ^ Herald.com | 11/02/2005 | Crist: Hands off death penalty law
- ^ Tallahassee Democrat
- ^ Executions in the United States in 2008
- ^ Florida executes man for 1991 rape, murder of child - Los Angeles Times
- ^ Associated Press, March 19, 2008
- ^ "A girl wonders: Is Crist my dad?", St. Petersburg Times, January 25, 2007
- ^ [http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080703/CAPITOLNEWS/80703028&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL "Crist engaged to be married",Tallahassee Democrat, July 3, 2008
- ^ Leonard, Tom (2008-07-05). "John McCain's would-be VP Charlie Crist to marry after being dogged by gay rumours", The Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-07-05.
[edit] Further reading
- [2] Morgan, Lucy (May 9, 2005). "Crist Will Enter Governor's Race." St. Petersburg Times, pp. 1A.
- [3] 1998 U.S. Senate race results.
- [4] Bousquet, Steve (February 18, 2006) "Crist's landlord reportedly takes illegal tax exemption" "St. Petersburg Times"
- [5] March, William (January 8, 2006) Tampa Tribune
- [6] (February 13, 2006) "Candidate's Fundraiser Uncovers Questionable Supporters" "Miami Herald"
- [7]Tisch, Chris (January 17, 2005) "The Woman Who Asked Charlie That Question" "St. Petersburg Times"
- [8]Capital Bureau
- [9] Attorney seeks to block steroid questions in corrections lawsuit
- [10] (October 3, 2006) "Book: Crist tried to "whitewash" probe" "The Gainsville Sun"
- [11] Miller, John J. (April 7, 2008). "He's No Jeb Bush." National Review.
[edit] External links
- Florida Governor Charlie Crist official state site
- Charlie Crist official campaign site
- National Governors Association - Florida Governor Charlie Crist biography
- Follow the Money - Charlie Crist & Jeff Kottkamp 2006 campaign contributions
- On the Issues - Charlie Crist issue positions and quotes
- Project Vote Smart - Governor Charlie Crist (FL) profile
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Doran |
Florida Attorney General 2003 – 2007 |
Succeeded by Bill McCollum |
| Preceded by Jeb Bush |
Governor of Florida 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
