Charlie Crist on Track to Face Off Against Ron DeSantis in 2022 Election

May 10, 2022 Updated 8:27 A.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – According to a new poll from St. Pete Polls, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist is leading Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democrat nomination for Florida Governor, leading by 33 points in the new poll.

In the Real Clear Politics Aggregate, Crist leads by an average of 19.3 points since February when polling rounds began.

The latest round of polling from St. Pete, taking place from May 2nd to May 3rd, was the largest sample size of the Democrat primary, polling almost 2,000 likely voters, the biggest picture yet of the 2022 Democrat primary voters.

Crist’s lead is reflected in fundraising, where he raised a total of around $1 million in March, while Fried raised less than half that: $439,000.

Fried is trying to make her platform more visible among Democrat voters, vowing to participate in four upcoming Democrat gubernatorial debates during the summer.

Last month, Fried attacked Crist for reportedly backing out of the debates.

“It’s been 30 hours since I called for 5 televised debates. Charlie’s been awfully quiet,” she said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the voter registration lead over Democrats has increased to over 120,000 and Gov. Ron DeSantis blows out both opponents in the polls.

On average, DeSantis leads Crist by 8.8 points and Fried by 12.8 points.

In fundraising, DeSantis raised a total of $8.4 million in March alone, around eight times as much as Crist and Fried combined.

The Democrat primary will take place on August 23rd before the general election on November 8th. Florida is a closed primary state, so only Democrats will be able to vote for Crist, Fried, or other smaller candidates.

Polls and fundraising point to a strong lead for Crist, putting him on track to clinch the nomination and face off against DeSantis, unless Fried can manage to induce a swing of at least 10% in just a few months.