Charlie Crist wins Florida House seat

Former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) is projected to win a Florida House seat, breaking his long run of unsuccessful bids for political office.

Crist defeated Rep. David Jolly (R) for the Pinellas County seat. The district became more Democratic after court-ordered redistricting and includes Crist’s hometown of St. Petersburg.

{mosads}The former governor was the favorite going into Tuesday’s election, and the seat was seen as one of top pickup opportunities for House Democrats this election cycle.

Crist’s political career spans more than two decades and includes several switches in party affiliation. He was elected governor of Florida in 2006 as a Republican but declined to run for reelection in 2010. He instead ran for a Senate seat and lost to now-Sen. Marco Rubio (R), first as a Republican before switching to an Independent.

Crist registered as a Democrat in 2012 and unsuccessfully challenged Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

Jolly went into his reelection race as an underdog against Crist. After winning the 2014 special election for his seat, Jolly opted not to run for reelection and instead launched a bid for the seat that was going to be vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

But when Rubio reversed his decision and jumped back in the Senate race, Jolly ended his Senate bid and announced he’d run for reelection. The GOP congressman, who portrayed himself as an independent voice in Washington, kept the race competitive even as the House Republicans’ campaign arm abandoned him financially.

Jolly rankled members of his own party with an appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes” when he said that the National Republican Campaign Committee required members to raise $18,000 every day. Some Republicans accused him of lying. 

Crist’s political comeback helps build Democrats’ ranks in the lower chamber as they seek to flip 30 seats to regain the House majority.