Charlie Crist Mulls a Congressional Run

After floundering in the political waters and losing races on almost every side of the aisle, Charlie Crist may have found the remedy to break his losing streak once and for all.

Last week the Florida Supreme Court ruled the state’s congressional maps don’t meet the requirements of a voter-approved constitutional amendment that prohibits political lines from being drawn to favor incumbents or a political party. The court ordered the Legislature to try drawing the maps again. The Florida Supreme Court gave the Legislature 100 days to submit a new map.

In this week’s Tampa Bay Times, Adam Smith named Congressman David Jolly as one of the two losers this week in Florida politics. According to Smith, “Republican U.S. Rep. Jolly’s Pinellas seat is likely to become a lot more Democratic-leaning,” potentially giving Charlie Crist an edge should he decide to run for Congress in 2016.

Originally, Charlie Crist showed little interest in running against incumbent David Jolly in the upcoming election, but the district lines are a changin’. Depending on how the new Congressional District 13 looks, Crist may find himself being the favorite going into 2016, since the lines could be redrawn to include Crist’s condo in downtown St. Petersburg as well as a large chunk of heavy leaning Democratic neighborhoods. It is important to note those neighborhoods supported Charlie Crist during the Governor’s race and gave him a win in Pinellas County over Governor Rick Scott, 52-41.

While Charlie Crist ruled out a Senate run back in March, the door is still open for him to run for Congress; but is this even a viable option? In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Crist admitted he is “missing public service” and has been receiving plenty of encouraging phone calls about running for Congress. With the prospect of Congressman Jolly set to announce he is running for U.S. Senate next week, the seat would be left open and depending on gerrymandering, has the potential to fall in Charlie Crist’s favor. If Crist decides to run for Congress this will be his third time running for office.

In 2010, Charlie Crist lost a Senate race to Marco Rubio and four years later lost an election for his old job against Governor Rick Scott. It’s natural for Crist to have reservations about running again. However, given Crist’s penchant for the political limelight and running for office, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing Crist for Congress bumper stickers in Pinellas County.