On Monday, Charlie Crist makes it official by entering the race to get his old Tallahassee job back.
But Nan Rich, former state Senator from south Florida who has been actively campaigning for governor, believes she has an “unfair” advantage over Crist, according to Dara Kam of the News Service of Florida.
“I’m a woman, a mom and a grandmother. Those are powerful things to be today in this state,” Rich told Democrats this weekend at a state conference in Orlando over the weekend.
Although Rich may be exaggerating her advantage over the Republican-turned-Democrat, it does not overstate the importance of women in the Florida governor’s race.
Women outnumber men in registered Democrats, and for many women, the former state Senate minority leader is an obvious choice. Rich has a strong record on issues close to female voters— abortion rights, health care and education, among others.
That might not be enough to take the attention away from Crist, when he begins campaigning for governor in earnest. In addition to high name recognition, Crist has some heavyweight political ties – including President Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and supporters in Democratic strongholds in California and New York. He also has the fundraising chops, which will be obvious when Crist releases his first month of financing numbers in December.
All of this might play particularly well with many Democratic women, who may be partial to Rich, but they also feel Crist has the best chance of defeating incumbent Gov. Rick Scott — the main purpose of the 2014 race.
Several Democrats hope that Rich will drop out, thereby avoiding an nasty primary battle, Kam writes. Rich insists she is in it for the long haul.
Forcing Rich out of the race could also be a significant Democratic misstep. Supporters of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries are still chafing over her treatment by the Democratic establishment after the Obama campaign began gaining traction.
