MIAMI- Will he or won’t he? Politicos across Florida, and the country are eagerly awaiting for Republican Senatorial candidate Gov. Charlie Crist to decide whether he will stay in the GOP primary, or jump into the Florida Senate race as an independent. Today, during a ground-breaking for a new highway project, built partially with Federal stimulus money, Crist said that he has yet to “make up his mind” on the crucial decision that could change the dynamics of the hotly-contested 2010 seat.
” I haven’t made that decision yet ” Crist bluntly told reporters today in Miami, when asked if voters wanted him to run as an independent. “I’m not sure, and there is only one way to find out, and that’s if we decide to do it.”
Crist said he is continuing to listen to Florida voters, as Friday’s deadline to officially file as a Republican, or enter the race without a party affiliation, nears.
“That is the most important thing I have tried to do, is listen to them, and I continue to do so. It is too important of a decision and I want to be thoughtful and deliberate about it,” Crist added.
Crist trails front-runner Marco Rubio by roughly 20 points in recent polls among GOP voters, but in a 3-way race, with Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek, and Crist as an independent candidate, the general election numbers show a statistical dead-heat.
In an interview today with Fox News, Rubio said he was not spending much time thinking about Crist’s upcoming decision.
” I can only tell you that I am running for the U. S. Senate because I feel that the other candidates in this race either support or aren’t doing enough against many of the key elements of the Obama agenda,” Rubio told FOX as he walked through Miami’s Little Havana Neighborhood, shaking hands, and drinking coffee with the locals at Versailles restaurant.” No matter how he runs or what label he has, that’s not going to change.”
” I am not overly concerned about what the governor does, ” Meek, the likely Democratic nominee in the general election, said during an interview this afternoon.” The governor’s decision, I think, is his own personal decision …. it has very little do with how we operate our campaign.”
Crist will most likely be the last of the three to officially file. All three candidates declared their candidacies last year, but the 2010 Senate candidates can only formally qualify as candidates with their respective political party or designation during the last two weeks of April.
Meek filed by petition earlier this month, and Rubio will make his official filing announcement tomorrow in his West Miami neighborhood, surrounded by family members that will include his ailing father who is suffering from cancer.