Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. (ˈkrɪst; born July 24, 1956) is an American politician who was the
44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as
Florida State SenatorThe Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....
, Education Commissioner, and
Attorney GeneralThe Florida Attorney General is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state....
. He was elected governor in 2006 with 52.4 percent of the vote (against opponent Jim Davis), and took office the following year.
Crist's term as governor ended in January 2011. Crist announced on May 12, 2009 that he would run instead for the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat being vacated by then-fellow Republican
Mel MartinezMelquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
. He later decided to run as an independent in the general election, but lost to Republican
Marco RubioMarco Antonio Rubio is the junior United States Senator from Florida . A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives ....
.
Early life and education
Crist was born in
Altoona, Pennsylvania-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
on July 24, 1956, to Charles Joseph Crist, Sr., an American physician of Greek Cypriot descent, and Nancy (née Lee), of
Scots-Irish AmericanScotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
descent. His family name is adapted from the original
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
name "
ChristodoulouChristodoulou is a name of Greek origin, made up of the two Greek words 'Christos' and 'doulos' . This surname therefore means 'Servant of Christ' in English...
". Crist moved to
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, as a child, where he attended Riviera Middle School and graduated from
St. Petersburg High SchoolSt. Petersburg High School, founded in 1898, is a secondary school located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's current building, a historic landmark, was built in 1926 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The school was billed as the nation's first million dollar...
in 1974. He is the second of four children and has three sisters: Margaret Crist Wood, Elizabeth Crist Hyden, and Catherine Crist Kennedy. He attended
Wake Forest UniversityWake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
for two years, where he played quarterback for the
Wake Forest Demon Deacons footballThe Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest plays its home football games at BB&T Field....
team. Crist earned his undergraduate degree from
Florida State UniversityThe Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
where he was elected Vice President of the student body and became a member of the
Pi Kappa AlphaPi Kappa Alpha is a Greek social fraternity with over 230 chapters and colonies and over 250,000 lifetime initiates in the United States and Canada.-History:...
fraternity. He received his
law degreeJuris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the
Cumberland School of LawCumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...
in
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Law career
After graduating from law school in 1981, and having passed the bar on his third attempt, Crist was hired as general counsel to
Minor league baseballMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
, which was headquartered in St. Petersburg. Drawn to politics, Crist was a candidate for public office for the first time in 1986, as a Republican, in the primary race for a state Senate seat in Pinellas County. After losing in a runoff, Crist joined his brother-in-law in private practice in St. Petersburg, but soon returned to politics as an aide in the successful 1988 United States Senate campaign of
Connie Mack IIICornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III , popularly known as Connie Mack, is a former Republican politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and then as a Senator from 1989 to 2001. He served as chairman of the Senate Republican...
, whom he has since described as his political mentor.
Florida Senate
Crist was elected to the
Florida SenateThe Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....
in 1992, representing parts of St. Petersburg, defeating longtime incumbent Democratic State Senator Helen Gordon Davis of
TampaTâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
. Crist was able to unseat Gordon Davis following Florida's
redistrictingRedistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
, which created an entirely new state senate district. His victory was credited with ending the 128-year control of the Florida Senate by the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, resulting in an even 20-20 tie in Senate between the Democrats and Republicans following the 1992 election.
He established a reputation as a
law-and-orderIn politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
senator, sponsoring legislation requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. He supported teacher salary increases, co-sponsored laws that created charter schools, and created a vanity license plate sold to raise funds for
EvergladesThe Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
conservation. As chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Crist pursued an investigation into actions of then-governor
Lawton ChilesLawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
amid allegations that Chiles' campaign had made "scare calls" to senior citizens days before the 1994 gubernatorial election. Chiles eventually testified before Crist and the committee and admitted that his campaign had made the calls.
Florida Education Commissioner
Crist gained statewide name recognition in 1998 as the Republican challenger to the popular incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator
Bob GrahamDaniel Robert "Bob" Graham is an American politician. He was the 38th Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from that state from 1987 to 2005...
. He lost to Graham by 26 percent but was elected Education Commissioner of Florida in 2000 – a position he held until it became an office filled by political appointment in 2003, pursuant to a 1998 constitutional amendment.
Florida Attorney General
In 2002, Crist was elected Attorney General. Supporters of his candidacy included
America's Most WantedAmerica's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
host
John WalshJohn Edward Walsh is an American television personality, criminal investigator, human and victim rights advocate and formerly the host, as well as creator, of America's Most Wanted...
, who filed Crist's gubernatorial candidacy paperwork, citing his work with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. During his term as Attorney General, Crist was praised by civil rights and consumer groups for expanding the powers of his office to prosecute civil rights and fraud cases; for combating
spam e-mailEmail spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
; freezing utility rates; adding restrictions to telecom companies, and protecting the environment. He was criticized by pro-life advocates during the
Terri Schiavo caseThe Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
when he ended official attempts to keep Schiavo on life support.
In September 2006, Canadian anti-consumer-fraud activist and author
Les HendersonLes Henderson is a Canadian consumer fraud author and webmaster of Crimes of Persuasion, a consumer-fraud awareness site.Henderson published two books, "Crimes Of Persuasion" and "Under Investigation". His first book "Crimes Of Persuasion" describes a large variety of 'schemes, scams and frauds'...
criticized Crist's handling of the
Lou PearlmanLouis Jay "Lou" Pearlman is a former impresario of the successful 1990s boy bands such as The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Take 5, O-Town and US5. In 2006, it was discovered that Pearlman had perpetrated one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in American history, leaving more than $300...
-Wilhelmina Scouting Network affair in his self-published book
Under Investigation. In 2004, Jacqueline Dowd, the assistant attorney general leading the investigation, was dismissed by the office of the Attorney General. Her successor, John MacGregor, ended the investigation in 2004. Dowd stated that she did not know why she was dismissed. During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Crist's campaign manager said that she had resigned, amicably, over a difference of opinion on her contact with the press. Henderson, citing $5,000 in campaign contributions from Pearlman companies to Crist received a year after the investigation was complete, argued that the investigation was dropped because of Pearlman's political connections. A lawsuit stemming from the
Ponzi schemeA Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
and investment scandal alleges that Crist and other state regulators failed to protect investors, and also cites campaign contributions.
As Attorney General, he was noted for his position in the
Terri Schiavo caseThe Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
, where he disagreed with governor
Jeb BushJohn Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
. Crist received criticism from both sides on this issue.
Florida Governor
Crist has received criticism for his fiscal approach, for his support of President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's fiscal policies, and for his official schedule.
Crist supported
capital punishmentCapital punishment is legal in the U.S. state of Florida. Florida was the first state to reintroduce the death penalty after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all statutes in the country in the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision, and the first to perform a post-Furman involuntary...
and gun rights. In 2008 he signed a provision that prevents employers from prohibiting employees' bringing firearms to the workplace, as long as the weapons are secure and individuals maintain a concealed carry license.
His position on abortion issues is not clear-cut. In 1998 Crist ran for Senate as a pro-choice candidate, and has stated that he opposes overturning Roe vs. Wade. Crist has said that he opposes a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before a woman can undergo an abortion. In the 2010 Senate campaign, Crist first presented himself a pro-life Republican but after he lost the Republican nomination and became an unaffiliated candidate, had all pro-life statements removed from his website. On June 11, 2010 Crist vetoed a bill which would have removed taxpayer funding for abortion, as well as require a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.
Crist supported efforts to ban same-sex marriage in Florida, and supported the current ban on adoption by homosexual prospective parents – saying that a "traditional family provides the best environment for children." His position led gay rights groups to protest the passage of the
Florida Amendment 2Florida Amendment 2 was an amendment made to the Constitution of Florida in 2008. It added Article I, Section 27 to the constitution, which defines marriage as a union only between one man and one woman, and thus bans the creation of similar unions, such as civil unions or same-sex...
(now Article 1 Section 27 of the
Florida ConstitutionThe Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state....
) ban on same-sex marriage during his wedding in 2008. He shifted in June 2010, when he stated that he no longer supported Florida's ban on same-sex adoption: "A better way and approach would be to let judges make that decision on a case-by-case basis."
On other issues, Crist differs from other Republicans, particularly on environmental policy, an important issue in Florida. He announced plans to sign executive orders to impose strict
air pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
standards in the state, with aims to reducing
greenhouse gasA greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions by 80 percent of the 1990 levels, by 2050 . In his gubernatorial campaign, Crist opposed offshore oil drilling. Crist altered that position in June 2008, when oil reached peak prices, saying "I mean, let's face it, the price of gas has gone through the roof, and Florida families are suffering, and my heart bleeds for them."
As an environmental advocate, Crist proposed in June 2008 that the State of Florida buy 187000 acres (756.8 km²) of land for conservation. Crist described the deal "as monumental as our nation's first national park." The agreement, which still faces legal and financing challenges, would give the state 73000 acres (295.4 km²) of sugar and citrus plantations for Everglades restoration projects.
Crist was the first Republican governor to accept the state's
National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP) invitation to a convention, and has been described as the state's "first black governor." Crist endorsed legislation requiring paper records of all ballots cast during an election, stemming from criticism that votes were being undercounted in black communities by computerized voting machines. He has also tackled the state's regulation of the insurance industry, particularly for property (in the aftermath of
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
) and health insurance. While new property insurance legislation has proved controversial – in particular the creation of the Citizen's Property Insurance Corp and the
Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (both of which have been described as risky and underfunded) – the health insurance reform efforts have been well received. Standing next to former football star
Dan MarinoDaniel Constantine "Dan" Marino, Jr. is a retired American football quarterback who played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League...
(whose son, Michael, is
autisticAutism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and who inspired the Dan Marino Foundation), Crist signed a law expanding health coverage statewide for autism disorders and he has also signed legislation expanding low-income coverage and creating public and private insurance options in the state.
Post-gubernatorial career
On January 7, 2011 it was announced that Charlie Crist would join personal-injury law firm Morgan and Morgan. In addition, he will be a part time instructor at Stetson University College of Law.
Future of the Republican Party
On November 12–14, 2008, Crist hosted the
Republican Governors AssociationThe Republican Governors Association is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1963, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Republican Party.Its Democratic Party counterpart is the Democratic Governors Association...
(RGA) annual meeting in Miami. After the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
win in the 2008 election, there was speculation about the tone of the Republican Governors meeting. Republican Vice Presidential candidate
Sarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
was a featured participant and speaker.
Crist's speech at the RGA conference, "Listen to the Voters and Serve" included his sentiments on how the GOP should evolve:
Crist held a joint interview with Governor
Mark SanfordMarshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....
of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and they discussed the split in the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
over where to direct the party's next efforts to gain more voters.
Role in 2008 presidential election
Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
played a major role in Crist's 2006 campaign for governor, endorsing Crist and traveling the state to campaign with him. The day before the general election, Crist chose to hold a campaign event with McCain in
JacksonvilleJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. Later, when the Republican Presidential primary debates were held in
St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, Crist embraced McCain and offered a tepid welcome to the other presidential candidates. Former New York City Mayor
Rudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, who had campaigned for Crist during the gubernatorial election, had sought his endorsement to support a campaign strategy that relied on winning the Florida primary.
In May 2007 Crist signed a bill moving the date of Florida's presidential primary to January 29, 2008. Such adjustments of state primary dates – intended to increase the prominence of an individual states' role in the nominating process of the major political process and known as front-loading – are a violation of the primary rules of both major parties. The change prompted the
Democratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
to strip Florida (and Michigan, which made a similar change) of their superdelegates and 50 percent of their regular delegates to the Democratic nominating convention, and the
Republican National CommitteeThe Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
said it would strip 50% of all of the state's delegates. Crist joined Michigan governor
Jennifer GranholmJennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
in demanding that their states' delegates be seated. Ultimately, the Democratic National Committee decided to seat all Florida and Michigan delegates while granting each delegate a half vote, and the Republican National Committee came to a similar conclusion.
On January 26, 2008, Crist endorsed
McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
in the Republican primary race, saying, "He's a great friend and will do a great job for the United States." McCain later won the primary by five percentage points.
On October 28, 2008 Crist extended early voting hours of operation and declared that a "state of emergency exists" due to record voter turnout and resultant hours-long waits at locations throughout the state. Some Republican operatives were disappointed with the decision, including one anonymous source who said "He just blew Florida for John McCain."
On October 29 and October 31, 2008, Crist appeared on
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's
Morning JoeMorning Joe is a weekday morning talk show on MSNBC, with Joe Scarborough discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. It was created as the replacement for Imus in the Morning, which was canceled in April 2007 after simulcasting on MSNBC since 1996...
in which he told former Florida congressman
Joe ScarboroughCharles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel...
that the race was tightening in Florida.
2010 Senate campaign
Crist announced May 12, 2009 that he would not run for re-election as Governor and would run for the US Senate in 2010. His main Republican opponent was House Speaker
Marco RubioMarco Antonio Rubio is the junior United States Senator from Florida . A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives ....
, in addition to Democratic nominee
Kendrick MeekKendrick Brett Meek is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for from 2003 to 2011. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Senate election for the seat of Mel Martinez, but he lost in a three way race to Republican Marco Rubio along with Independent Charlie Crist.-Early life,...
.
Crist was considered the front runner in the Republican primary, but eventually trailed Rubio by 20 points in polls.
As a result, Crist announced his intent to run as an unaffiliated candidate in the 2010 senate election, while at the same time, according to a press release from his campaign, he would remain a registered Republican. Crist officially changed his registration status to "non party affiliated" on May 13, 2010. After initially signaling that Crist might return former campaign donors' contributions, Crist's campaign later indicated that it will not do so. Crist eventually lost the race to the more conservative Republican candidate Marco Rubio by 20% of the vote.
Personal life
In July 1979, Crist married Amanda Morrow; they divorced less than a year later. Crist became engaged to
Carole RomeCarole Crist, née Carole Oumano , , is an American businesswoman and, as the wife of former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, is also the former First Lady of Florida.-Personal:...
on July 3, 2008 after 9 months of dating, and was married on December 12 of that year at the
First Methodist Church of St. PetersburgThe First Methodist Church of St. Petersburg is a historic church in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is located at 212 3rd Street, North. On September 13, 1990, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.-References and external links:* * at * ** **...
, where Crist is a member.
In April 2009, Crist was one of the subjects of the documentary
OutrageOutrage is a 2009 Emmy Award-nominated American documentary film written and directed by Kirby Dick. The film presents a narrative discussing the hypocrisy of individuals purported in the documentary to be closeted politicians who promote anti-gay legislation...
, which purports to
outOuting is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
politicians who are
closetedCloseted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
and opposed LGBT rights legislation. Crist says he is heterosexual and is not gay.
In April 2011, as part of a settlement of a copyright lawsuit brought by musician
David ByrneDavid Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
, Crist apologized for his Senate campaign's use of Byrne's song
Road to Nowhere"Road to Nowhere" is a song by Talking Heads, from the 1985 album Little Creatures. It also appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set...
without permission authorization.
External links
- Charlie Crist official campaign site
- Charlie Crist FL Channel on YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Video with Charlie Crist, WEDU
WEDU is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station, serving the Tampa Bay DMA in Florida. The station first signed on the air on October 17, 1958...
, April 2007, 30-minute interview
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