Believe it or not, former Governor of Florida Charlie Crist is still at it, despite all indicators that he is not exactly wanted. This is a man clinging to political office by the fingertips, like he’s in some clichéd third act of an inert action movie. He’s gasping to have someone grab his hand, while Florida voters are standing, arms akimbo, and basically shrugging.
The 70-year-old posted a social media video of himself walking out of a government office, right after he officially filed his paperwork to run for mayor of St. Petersburg.
I’m in!#stpete pic.twitter.com/wghRis2ySk
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) April 27, 2026
It serves as just the latest gasping effort of the man to remain relevant and employed in the public sector. I mean, the man has a legal career, so he should be able to slide into some look-busy token role for a legal firm looking to curry some activist work. Surely some law firm in the blue enclave of Pinellas County could monetize having him installed as a partner, drawing DNC dollars and fighting the tort resistance.
READ MORE: Eric Swalwell: The Preeminent Specimen of That Distilled Element - the ‘Politician’
I recently covered how Eric Swalwell embodied all of the worst elements of the term “politician.” Apart from that film-covered reptilian version of the definition, Charlie Crist exists as a subspecies; he is the man whose identity is purely that of a public servant, one incapable of shedding that skin of a politician. He does not operate as a principled voice; he tries to be a political weather vane, positioned at the whims of public praise, all while claiming to be pointing the way.
Crist’s biggest challenge, for years now, is that adulation has not exactly materialized. Charlie rose to prominence as the Purple state was gradually edging into more Red territory, earning a seat in the state Senate as a Republican, and later he took on a number of roles under the Jeb(!) Bush administration, appearing like one of those professional athletes who is not really a star but a utility player who can work at a number of positions.
Crist served in the business administration, as Education Commissioner, and the State Attorney General. When Jeb(!) was termed out, Crist ran for the governor’s mansion, and upon winning, he became a rather unoffensive and effective governor. Most Floridians liked the guy, mostly because he kept to himself and was not a perpetual presence in our lives. But in a sign of his lack of political dexterity, Chuck managed to take high approval numbers — seen from both parties — and blew that stance when he sidled up to Barack Obama and endorsed his massive spending proposals.
There is a flippant use of the term “squander” at times, but Chaz embodied that definition with his unsavvy political decision. The Florida GOP and the voters turned rather quickly on the mayonnaise-maned governor, and he saw the writing on the ballot; within the span of one term, he went from sporting an enviable approval rating to realizing he would be chased out of office by his own party.
READ MORE: Crist further prepares himself for run as a Democrat
To get the pure feel of Chaz as a politician, as he realized he would be voted out of the governor’s mansion, he immediately jumped into the race for the U.S. Senate in 2010. During the primary run, he was getting trounced in the polls, but he steadfastly denied he would drop out of the party. Then, within weeks, he saw the reality and dropped out to run as an Independent. This showed more of a lack of dexterity, as there was some grumbling that he was not returning donations he swallowed when he was a Republican.
He also displayed his fluid political foundation, as he declared, suddenly and conveniently, as an Independent, his positions on gay issues had “evolved.” The voters did not fall for his gambit, and he lost by nearly 20 points to Marco Rubio.
After his loss and the end of his term, Crist latched on with the hopeful (and yet hopeless) group dubbed No Labels, a vain attempt at gaining traction in the third-party wilderness and offering an alternative for the White House.
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This organization showed to be more adept at putting out press releases than effecting change. After 14 years, this outfit managed to get all of two people on statewide ballots; in the race for the Secretary of State in Washington, their candidate got 5 percent of the votes, and in Alaska, for a US House seat, their candidate finished in 10th place with a 0.13% return. They might have been better served coming up with a less generic distinction.
Chaz next moved to the private sector, joining the legal syndicate that is monolithic in Florida, Morgan&Morgan. He never saw a courtroom while with the firm, but was used for drawing in business and funding. A couple of years later, Crist announced his registering now as a Democrat, and it was clear the man with no political core beliefs was eyeing the governor’s mansion once again. He lost to Governor Rick Scott, giving Crist the ignoble distinction of running for a state office and now losing under three separate political banners.
While licking his wounds, but not getting the hint, Crist next made the bid to secure a U.S. House seat in Florida’s 13th District, winning the now heavily Democratic redistricted seat and managing a completely undistinguished career while serving on The Hill. It was at this time that his relationship with Morgan&Morgan completely soured. Charlie must have supremely enraged the lead partner, John Morgan, because he has been completely memory-holed despite going to Washington and being a potential influence. The firm eliminated all mention of Crist on its websites, even went so far as to petition those who linked to their dead web pages to take down their references.
Charlie left Congress to once again run for the highest office in the state that did not want him. He once again attempted to challenge a popular incumbent, and Ron DeSantis manhandled Crist like a bar bouncer hauling out a wispy hipster who could not handle his watermelon seltzers, defeating the political chameleon by 1.5 million votes. Later, Joe Biden tossed Crist some token ambassadorship with a United Nations aviation outfit operating out of Montreal.
But now the man who cannot resist his need for a political fix is back at it, looking for a municipal post to feed his public office addiction. This appears as close to a retirement that Charlie Crist will tolerate. Taking a local position in his hometown makes sense — for him. It will be up to the residents of Saint Pete to decide if they are as tired of Charlie Crist’s political perpetuity as the rest of the state of Florida has proven.
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