Crist expected to announce run for governor
May 3, 2021 - U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, has scheduled an event for 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in St. Pete at which he is widely expected to launch a gubernatorial bid. Crist, 64, served as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011, when he was a Republican. He then left the GOP to become an independent and unsuccessfully challenged Republican Marcio Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek for a U.S. Senate seat. In 2012, he joined the Democratic Party and challenged then-Gov. Rick Scott for the governorship, narrowly losing in 2014. Two years later, he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives when he defeated 13th District incumbent David Jolly. Members of Crist’s campaign fundraising team were seen last week at Clear Labs, a co-working space in St. Pete’s Grand Central District, making calls to donors.