Re: Is Charlie Crist Examining Jon Corzine's Playbook? -- By: Kathryn Jean Lopez: PHOTO
This and more in the "Campaign Spot," now .

'Tea Party' to Fight Dozen GOP Candidates in 2010
This election cycle could herald all-out war between far-right conservatives and the Republican establishment. Empowered by their success in pushing the GOP candidate out of the race in New York’s 23rd District, tea party activists and their allies plan to launch primary challenges against more than a dozen GOP candidates, Politico reports. Top Senate contenders like Charlie Crist, Rob Simmons, and Mark Kirk, and even some incumbents, like Utah’s Bob Bennett, are in their sights.

'Tea party' backers target GOP candidates
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Anti-tax "tea party" conservatives are struggling with the Republican Party establishment by backing insurgent candidates, political activists say. One example is in Florida, where the anti-tax and limited government advocacy group FreedomWorks is backing former state House Speaker Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate against the candidate preferred by GOP centrists, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist , the Washington publication Politico reported Monday. Everett Wilkinson, an...

A gift from the governor: Bobby Bowden gets support from Florida's Charlie Crist
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Embattled Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is getting help from a key supporter: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Crist's press office released a statement Saturday from the governor, wishing Bowden luck for the Seminoles' night game against Georgia Tech. It was highly unusual public backing from Crist, who graduated from Florida State in 1978. Crist's statement also called Bowden one of the best coaches of all time. Florida State was 2-3 entering Saturday and the chairman...

Aanestad plans 'town hall' meeting in Chico
CHICO — State Sen. Sam Aanestad plans a Town Hall meeting in Chico to discuss two issues: the crisis in the state's Prisons and the next state budget. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Chico City Council chambers, 421 Main St. Aanestad, a Grass Valley Republican, will be joined by another state senator, George Runner, R-Antelope Valley. Bill Bird, Aanestad's press secretary, said Aanestad will lead the discussion on the budget while Runner, whom he described as the Senate's GOP...

Norman: Crist's Alleged Former Boy Toy Booked for Stealing Pastor's Daughter's Wedding Ring: PHOTO
​ Remember Jason Wetherington? New Times Broward-Palm Beach columnist Bob Norman penned a story about the lad , who apparently went around blabbing he had a hotel-room tryst with Gov. Charlie Crist in 2006. Wetherington also worked for Katherine Harris's hilariously failed 2006 Senate campaign. 

Gov. Crist sees approval rating dip: PHOTO
The bottom is falling out from under Florida's once hugely popular Governor. A new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll finds only 42 percent of likely Florida voters think Charlie Crist is doing a good or excellent job as Governor, by far the worst approval rating of Crist's 34 months in office. As Crist seeks a promotion to the U.S. Senate, the race to succeed him is shaping up to be one of the closest the state has seen in decades. Democrat Alex Sink is statistically tied with...

Coming civil war in the GOP
Full results are not in, but it looks right now like Democrat Bill Owens will win NY-23, tarnishing would should have been a solid night for the GOP. Comfortable wins in the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia seemed likely to serve as appetizers for the real Conservative triumph – a victory of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman. The purging of Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava from the race by national Conservative activists has been well-covered. Fox News breathlessly...

Gov. Crist In Keys To Release Recovered Sea Turtle
Governor Charlie Crist will be on hand in the lower Keys to help give "Margarita" a proper send off.

Gov. Crist seems unfazed by slip in approval rating, Senate polls
Maybe it was the circular fan that's always at his feet. But if Gov. Charlie Crist is worried about his Senate bid, he didn't sweat it during Thursday's stop in Fort Lauderdale. For the first time since his 2006 election, his job approval numbers fell below 50 percent in an independent poll released this week. And after a string of losses to U.S. Senate rival Marco Rubio in small, local GOP polls, Crist suffered his first setback in a large county with Wednesday's 90-17 vote by the Palm Beach...

3-state delegation sends letter to Water War govs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress from Alabama, Florida and Georgia have sent a letter to the governors of the three states urging them to act quickly in resolving the ongoing water dispute. The letter came about after a meeting of the Tri-State Delegation last week and was sent Tuesday. The 52 members of the states' House and Senate delegations and urge the governors to meet soon and develop a plan. A federal judge ruled in July that the Atlanta region was illegally tapping Lake Lanier....

Video: Rubio uses Crist's words against him: PHOTO
Why, that sneaky, underhanded Marco Rubio campaign! Imagine, using Governor Charlie Crist’s own words against him in a web ad. Crist has belatedly awoken to the threat from the Florida House Speaker in the Republican primary for the open Senate seat, and has begun attacking Rubio to blunt his momentum. Rubio allows Crist to speak for himself for over two minutes in this ad that paints Crist as an Obama man:

Moderate Republicans Face a Dozen Primaries
Election Day is in full swing, but with moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava's withdrawal from Tuesday’s special congressional Election energizing the conservative wing of the Republican Party, GOP strategists are already facing the possibility that the party's right wing will challenge about a dozen of their top candidates in 2010 primaries, Politico reports. Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Connecticut Representative Rob Simmons and Illinois Representative Mark Kirk—all candidates...

Miami's Week in Snapshots: 10/30: PHOTO
This guy had a bad week, but so did Gov. Charlie Crist and all Dolphins everywhere. State workers got tricked, the Heat made a change and a manatee found her way home. Trick or Treat!

Crist's Job Approval Falls, But He Still Leads Primary Opponent: PHOTO
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's job approval numbers have dropped to their lowest point during his tenure but he still leads his challenger for the state's Republican Senate nomination by a comfortable margin, according to a poll conducted for the St. Petersburg Times, Miami Herald and Bay News 9 Oct. 25-28.

Stimulus created 29,322 jobs in Fla.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The federal economic recovery program so far has officially created or saved 29,322 jobs in Florida, but the state's "stimulus czar" said the real number is much bigger. The figure released by federal officials Friday represents full-time equivalent jobs for the calendar quarter ending Sept. 30. Gov. Charlie Crist's stimulus adviser, Don Winstead, said the state accounted for 23,944 of the full-time equivalents of the total that includes federal projects in Florida....

Poll: Crist Popularity His Lowest Point Of Term
Charlie Crist, once one of the most popular politicians in the state, has seen the bottom drop out of his approval rating just as he is ramping up for a bit for the U.S. Senate, according to a new poll conducted by CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times. Fewer than half of Florida's registered voters think Crist is doing an excellent job as Governor. "

Kevin Tynan Sworn In To Replace Brow School Board
Newly appointed Broward County School Board Member Kevin Tynan is expected to be sworn in Tuesday at a ceremony at the K.C. Wright Administration Building in Fort Lauderdale. Last week, Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Tynan after his predecessor Beverly Gallagher was suspended on corruption charges after allegedly accepting money from undercover FBI agents posing as contractors. "

Gov. Crist sees approval rating dip
The bottom is falling out from under Florida's once hugely popular Governor. A new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll finds only 42 percent of likely Florida voters think Charlie Crist is doing a good or excellent job as Governor, by far the worst approval rating of Crist's 34 months in office. As Crist seeks a promotion to the U.S. Senate, the race to succeed him is shaping up to be one of the closest the state has seen in decades. Democrat Alex Sink is statistically tied with...

Crist Names Aide to Senate
(Newser Summary)

Crist Depicted as Hitler in Video Spoof: PHOTO
An anonymous video depicts Florida governor Charlie Crist as Hitler, sparking an outcry from Republicans. By Julie Bolcer May be a screen capture JPG that links to the video player, or an embedded video from an external source like YouTube.com May be a screen capture JPG that links to the video player, or an embedded video from an external source like YouTube.com --> The political course of Florida governor Charlie Crist took a potentially disturbing turn this week, when an anonymous video...

Marco Rubio has cut Charlie Crist's lead in GOP Senate race by half
Turning a romp into a race, U.S. Senate contender Marco Rubio has cut Gov. Charlie Crist's lead in half in a nationally recognized poll. Crist, who surpassed Rubio by 29 points in an August survey, now leads 50-35 percent in the Republican contest for Florida's open Senate seat, according to a Quinnipiac University survey of 1,078 Florida voters released Wednesday. The poll also shows that in a matchup against Democratic front-runner Kendrick Meek, Crist would be a tougher Republican opponent....

Agencies fail to use electronic fingerprinting
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Criminal background checks for many caregivers are being delayed because Florida isn't taking full advantage of electronic fingerprinting. State officials said Thursday those delays may be contributing to convicted felons slipping through screening that's supposed to keep them from getting jobs caring for children, the elderly and disabled people. Officials from agencies responsible for that screening held their first meeting with Gov. Charlie Crist's staff to begin...

Fla. justices hear death row inmate's appeal
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Justice Barbara Pariente says Gov. Charlie Crist has put the Florida Supreme Court in a difficult position by signing a death warrant for a convicted killer while he still had appeals pending. Paul B. Johnson, who is scheduled for execution Nov. 4, was convicted of killing a Polk County sheriff's deputy and two other people 28 years ago. Pariente expressed frustration Wednesday during oral argument for one of the appeals. Johnson's lawyer, Martin McClain, argued the...