Obama's former campaign manager joins Crist team in Florida governor race

[okaawhatever]

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign chief, Jim Messina, has joined the Florida gubernatorial campaign of Charlie Crist in a sign that the Democratic party is gearing up for a big political battle to win the state in 2014.

"It signals that the national Democratic Party machinery is going to be behind Crist. It erases all doubts of that," said Susan MacManus, a longtime Florida political analyst and professor at the University of South Florida.

Crist, a one-time Republican governor of the state, is running as a Democrat.
Crist's challenge to incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott, one of 36 gubernatorial contests on the 2014 midterm ballot, is considered by many to be the one to watch.

As the only gubernatorial election in a big swing state, a Democratic victory in November 2014 would be a major upset for the Republican party heading into the 2016 presidential race. Florida's governorship has been under Republican control for 15 years.

Continued at Link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/22/us-florida-election-idUSBREA0L02B20140122

[JDPriestly]

1. Meet Charlie Crist.

He established a reputation as a law-and-order senator, sponsoring legislation requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole.[4] He supported teacher salary increases, co-sponsored laws that created charter schools, and created a vanity license plate sold to raise funds for Everglades conservation.[13] As chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Crist pursued an investigation into actions of then-governor Lawton Chiles 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.[4][12].

. . . .

He established a reputation as a law-and-order senator, sponsoring legislation requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole.[4] He supported teacher salary increases, co-sponsored laws that created charter schools, and created a vanity license plate sold to raise funds for Everglades conservation.[13] As chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, Crist pursued an investigation into actions of then-governor Lawton Chiles 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.[4][12]

Lots more . . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Crist