DeSantis Hails 'Win For The Ages' Over Charlie Crist For FL Governor

FLORIDA — Declaring that "the people have delivered their verdict," voting for "freedom," Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis handily defeated former Gov. Charlie Crist, receiving 58 percent of the vote to Crist's 41 percent, and winning traditionally Democratic Florida counties.

At the Tampa Convention Center, a boisterous crowd numbering in the hundreds cheered DeSantis and chanted, "U.S.A.," as the governor stepped up to the podium just after 9 p.m.

"Over these past four years, we've seen major challenges for the people of our state, for the people of this country. We saw freedom wither on the vine," DeSantis said. "But Florida held the line. We chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, and law and order over disorder. We weathered the storms but we stood our ground. We did not back down. We had the courage to lead. We made promises to the people of Florida and we delivered on those promises."

Four years later, he said, the people spoke at the ballot box, he said.

"The people have delivered their verdict. Freedom is here to stay," he said. "We not only won elections. We have rewritten the political map. Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages. We will never ever surrender to the 'woke' mob. Florida is where woke goes to die."

DeSantis gave special thanks to Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, both of which he lost to Andrew Gillum in 2018. This year he won the historically Democratic Miami-Dade County by 20 percent of the vote.

DeSantis also won two other counties that voted for Gillum four years ago, Hillsborough County and Crist's home county of Pinellas, winning them by 10 and 11 points, respectively.

Crist kept his concession speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg short, saying, "Florida has been great to me my entire life. It's been an absolute blessing to serve as your governor and your Congressman. I love this state with all my heart. You deserve the best that God has to offer."

He ended his speech with, "Now I can get married to my beautiful fiancee Chelsea. I'm a happy man," referring to Chelsea Grimes, a mother of six children."

Related: FL U.S. Senate Election Results: Rubio Defeats Demings, AP Says

See the chart embedded in this story for real-time updates as vote tallies continue to come in.

Recent polls put DeSantis 10 to 12 percentage points ahead of Crist. DeSantis ended up 9 to 10 percentage points ahead of Crist, still a major contrast to his first race for governor when he beat candidate Andrew Gillum by just .4 percentage points, the narrowest margin in state history.

Although polling showed DeSantis and Crist neck in neck following the August primary, DeSantis' polling took a major leap ahead in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian's devastation along the southwest Florida coast. DeSantis was widely praised for deploying state and federal aid to reach barrier islands and restore, access, power and water to thousands.

Crist, the former Florida governor and attorney general who spent the past five years serving in Congress, has criticized DeSantis for his stance on abortion access and said the Republican is positioning for a run at the White House.

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DeSantis campaigned on his actions to keep Florida open during the pandemic and his controversial stances on LGBTQ rights, abortion access and immigration have propelled him into the national spotlight. Pundits, as well as Crist, have speculated that DeSantis will challenge former President Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Maggie Haseman of St. Petersburg told Patch at a polling site Tuesday that she makes sure that she votes in every election, but this year she was especially driven by the issue of abortion.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the nation’s landmark abortion ruling, this summer. Florida also saw a new 15-week abortion ban signed into law by DeSantis earlier this year.

“I’m really concerned about the Roe v. Wade issue. I wanted to make sure I had a say,” Haseman told Patch. “I’m also hoping that DeSantis is out.”

Biden Rallies For Crist

Last week's campaign stops included a rally Nov. 1 at the HBCU, Florida Memorial University, in Miami Gardens with President Joe Biden and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said the choice is a no-brainer.

"You can actually vote for a governor who wants to unite us, who has a leader's heart, or you can vote for someone who spends every waking minute dividing us and breaking our unity," he said.

"Charlie is a guy you know and trust," Biden told the audience. "He’s always, always working for you, fighting for working families like yours. He was a great governor before, and he’d make an even greater governor again because of who he’s going to be replacing."

Speaking on two major issues in Crist's platform — the right for a woman to choose and the freedom for a transgender person to obtain gender affirmation surgery, both of which DeSantis opposes, Biden said, "Democracy is on the ballot this year, along with your right to choose and the right to privacy."

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Later, at a private reception for Crist in Golden Beach, Biden touched on what he sees as a rise in extremism in the Republican Party, including antisemitic chanting at GOP rallies, "the same antisemitic bile that was chanted in Germany in the ‘30s," he said.

"This is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different group of people.," he said. "Charlie is running against Donald Trump incarnate."

He said the Republican party is intent on dividing the country by riling up fringe groups, including white supremacists.

"His (Crist's) opponent (DeSantis) is demonizing anyone who disagrees with him. There’s a lot of unstable people in a population as large as ours," he said. "And they're hearing every single day these outrageous lies. And so look, folks, there’s a lot at stake — a whole lot at stake. And we need someone with Charlie’s integrity and intelligence. It matters for a state like Florida."

Among the stops on Crist's tour was a visit to the LGBTQ Victory Center in Wilton Manors, where Crist reminded voters of DeSantis' failure to answer Crist's question during the candidates' single debate Oct. 24.

"He won't square with the people of Florida on whether or not he will even serve a full term," said Crist, noting that DeSantis refused to say if he planned to make a bid for the White House in 2024. "He was like a deer in the headlights. He just stood there for 10 seconds in one of the most pregnant pauses I've ever seen in my life."

He said DeSantis is more interested in campaigning out of state, garnering campaign funds and votes for a run for the presidency, than dealing with the problems impacting Floridians today.

"We've been ranked by Forbes as one of the most expensive states to live in in America — more than California, more than New York. That's appalling," Crist said. "What's happened is our governor has taken his eye off the ball."

He said, if elected, his focus will be strictly on Florida.

"I know that in the next few days, a lot of people are making up their minds and, if they want a governor who's going to protect a woman's right to choose, if they want a governor who makes sure utility rates are kept down, that our property insurance rates that are skyrocketing we can bring down, then they should vote for Charlie Crist. I did it as their attorney general and their governor."

DeSantis Brings Country Superstar On Campaign Tour

Meanwhile, DeSantis wrapped up his weeklong "Keep Florida Free Tour" during which he made a surprise appearance on stage during a country music concert with Luke Bryan in Jacksonville.

His campaign speeches have focused on the actions he took to keep Florida open during the pandemic, to protect students and workers from mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and masks and his efforts to protect parental rights through the Parental Rights in Education Law, which bans instruction in public schools on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

"It is wrong to teach kids in elementary school that their gender is a choice," he said. "It is wrong to tell an 8-year-old that they were born a girl but they really may be a boy."

As for the high cost of living in Florida that Crist blamed on DeSantis, the governor said inflation is the result of Biden's misguided energy policies and overspending.

"When you're paying more at the grocery store, you can thank Joe Biden," he said.

At a stop at Starkey Market in Pasco County Wednesday night, DeSantis focused on his successes in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, rebuilding the causeways and bridges to reconnect Sanibel and Pine islands to the mainland and restoring power to the impacted parts of the state.

"You had the quickest power restoration in recorded hurricane history," he said.

From Friday through Monday, DeSantis embarked on an ambitious 13-stop "Don't Tread on Florida tour," and immediately embarked on his ambitious 13-stop "Don't Tread on Florida Tour," discussing his success at recruiting retired first responders and veterans to serve as teachers during the statewide teacher shortage while raising the starting salaries for teachers and holding the line on the cost of tuition at state universities.

“A college degree should not put our students into a lifetime of debt,” said DeSantis. “Florida’s public college and university system is No. 1 in the country because we put students first and this achievement proves we are on the right track. We will continue to prioritize offering a world-class education at an affordable price, providing the greatest value for our students.”