Charlie Crist on Not Winning Election in 10 Years: ‘It’s Just Like Tom Brady’

Election Coverage 2022

By Eric Daugherty

Published Oct. 18, 2022, 1:59 p.m. ET | Updated Oct. 18, 2022

Democrat Charlie Crist (City of St. Pete.)

FORT MYERS (FLV) – Ron DeSantis’ campaign is poking fun at Democrat opponent Charlie Crist for comparing himself to NFL superstar and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

In a now-resurfacing video from the campaign trail, before August’s primary, the Democrat is speaking to a sparsely populated room about his experience finally being elected to the U.S. Congress in 2016 after having not won an election since a decade prior.

Crist won the governorship in the 2006 Election, serving until early 2011. He did not win another election until 2016.

“I had not won an election in 10 years. It was just like, you know, Tom brady. He hadn’t won a Super Bowl in 10 years. But if you don’t give up, if you stick with it, if you do what you know is right and you believe in God, stay on the field. Especially if you think you can do it,” Crist said.

“It’s nice to have $50 million worth of name ID – thank God, I already have it because I ran for the U.S. Senate twice, I ran for Commissioner of Education, I ran for Attorney General, I ran for governor after that,” he went on. “And now this is number six.”

“I’ll start the first day knowing what to do because I’ve already done it more than anybody else has done into this race including the incumbent.”

In his bid to defeat DeSantis in November, Crist is trailing in the polls and fundraising.

The latest poll from Mason-Dixon gives DeSantis an 11 point lead over the Democrat, 52%-41%. The poll sampled 800 likely voters from 9/26-9/28.

At the time of reporting, RealClearPolitics’ polling aggregate average gives the Florida governor a 7.8-point win margin over Crist, which has been widening since the primary.

He raised nearly 3 million dollars in fundraising more than Democrat nominee for governor Charlie Crist from Aug. 27 to Sept. 23.

According to campaign finance records, DeSantis has raised $2,954,436 more than Crist since Aug. 27 – with a total War Chest (cash on hand) lead of $106,682,493.

The following is a summary of funds raised from Aug. 27 – Sept. 23: