If reelected on Nov. 8, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’ll fix Florida’s property insurance crisis, make teacher salary hikes a permanent component of the education budget, eliminate sales taxes on “baby items” and pet food, and lobby lawmakers to amend a state statute that requires death sentences for convicted murders be handed down only by unanimous jury decision.
But one thing DeSantis did not do during his first and only gubernatorial debate with challenger Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) in Fort Pierce’s Sunshine Theater on Oct. 24 was commit to serving all four years of a second term in Tallahassee.
Throughout the 13-question, one-hour debate, Crist—a three-term Congressional representative who served as Florida’s Republican governor in 2007-11 before changing parties in 2012—persistently claimed DeSantis will run for president in 2024.
At one point, after DeSantis repeatedly tied him to President Joe Biden’s policies, Crist said, “Ron, you talk about Joe Biden a lot. I understand. You think you’re going be running against him. I can see how you might get confused.”
He then asked DeSantis to “look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida” and tell them, “If reelected, will you remain for the full term? It’s not a tough question.”
DeSantis had a snappy reply: “The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
While questions related to specific topics, the candidates rarely stayed within the lines of the queries, straying into “culture war” and federal issues, such as critical race theory, “gender transitioning,” and immigration.
The 1,200-seat Sunshine Theater, which will be 100 years old in 2023 and is the largest such venue between Miami and Jacksonville, was about two-thirds full. The audience—often raucous—was invited by the campaigns. Few from the general public were in the theater.
