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The new Republican data analytics firm, 0ptimus, has released another mega-robopoll with some good news for Gov. Rick Scott: He's narrowly leading Democrat Charlie Crist. The race is still technically a tie but Scott's lead of 2.4 percentage points (41.9-39.4 percent) is almost outside the poll's error margin.

Saturday and Sunday marked the first chance for voters to head to the early voting polls on a weekend, a time when Democrats could really show in force and put a big dent in Republicans’ lead in casting pre-Election Day ballots. But there was no huge surge in Democrat-rich Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Intriguingly in the three counties, the total number of people who early voted Saturday was greater than Sunday – the day when black voters were expected to have the first of two “Souls to the Polls” voting events after church. Some Democrats are starting to...

Charlie Crist, a Democrat, is campaigning for Florida Governor by saying it's "worth it" that over 50,000 minimum wage workers in Florida will lose their jobs. The Daily Caller reports that, "Last night CNN’s Jake Tapper moderated a debate between Republican incumbent Governor Rick Scott and former Republican Governor and current Democratic nominee Charlie Crist." When asked about the possibility that over 50,000 minimum wage workers in Florida could lose their jobs if minimum wage rates go higher, Charlie Crist is quoted as saying that, “Well, the reason I think it’s worth it is people deserve it.”

JACKSONVILLE In a fast-paced final debate Tuesday, Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist displayed their mutual contempt to a national TV audience in the home stretch of the costliest and meanest campaign in the country. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article3213936.html#storylink=cpy

Sweat. It is one of the great afflictions of our era and must be prevented at all costs, even in humid Florida weather. Fortunately we have a visionary who is leading the way in combatting the appearance of even one sweat bead on the skin...Charlie Crist. While most of the mainstream media was inferring that Florida governor Rick Scott was somehow unreasonable for objecting to Charlie Crist breaking the rules to place a fan between his legs during last week's debate, Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post describes Charlie Crists bizarre obsession with preventing sweat at all times. So let...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist face off for the third and final time Tuesday night in a debate hosted by CNN and Jacksonville affiliate WJXT. The showdown comes just two weeks before Election Day and marks a final point in what's become the most expensive 2014 midterm race in the country, more than any House or Senate campaign.... 1. Elephant in the room: While Crist appeared to break the rules in last week's debate by having a fan underneath his podium, Scott might have fared worse in the optics of the scuffle. 2. Will Scott try...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is launching a new ad Monday that ties Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist with Barack Obama, including a photo of their infamous 2009 embrace. The Republican becomes the first gubernatorial candidate to deploy the clip of the president saying, “I’m not on the ballot this fall, but make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.” “Charlie Crist backed Obama from the start,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot, shared first with POLITICO. “If you liked the last six years of Barack Obama, you’ll love the next four years of Charlie Crist.”...

To understand why Florida gubernatorial candidate Democrat Charlie Crist insisted on having a fan blowing on him during the yesterday’s debate with Republican Rick Scott, which almost stopped the whole show in its tracks, thus earning the hashtag #fangate, you need to know something about Crist and sweat. One of the stranger moments of my reporting career arrived at 6 a.m. on a day in late 2012 in St. Petersburg, Fla. I was doing a lengthy profile of Florida governor Charlie Crist.... ....Charlie Crist, burdened with an almost pathological disdain for humanity’s untidiness, hates to sweat. This trait runs deep,...

....ama is headlining a South Florida rally on Friday to gin up enthusiasm for Democratic governor candidate Charlie Crist. She's the latest top tier political celebrity to come to the Sunshine State to boost Crist is his campaign to unseat Gov. Rick Scott. Doors open for the event, at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex Gymnasium, 3000 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens, at 2:45 p.m. The event doesn't start for another two hours.

The organizers of Wednesday's statewide TV debate between Gov. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist released a statement Thursday saying that Crist's insistence on having a portable electric fan was a violation of debate rules. Crist adviser Dan Gelber hotly disputes the organizers' accounts and said FPA president Dean Ridings accepted a document with a handwritten notation that included the words "with understanding that debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary." The statement from Leadership Florida reads in part: "Both campaigns received a letter in advance from the debate organizers (FPA and LF) stating the format,...

Update 8:17 a.m.: Scott's campaign now says he didn't refuse to take the stage and that it was a mix-up -- though it acknowledges that the fan was at issue in the moments before the debate. From Scott campaign manager Melissa Sellers: "So, let's get one thing clear: Rick Scott never refused to take the stage and debate. In fact, our campaign was not notified Charlie had even taken the stage because the last we heard, Crist was in an 'emergency meeting' with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan. "But Charlie Crist can bring his fan, microwave, and toaster...

In violation of debate rules agreed to by both political campaigns, the ideologically-fluid Charlie Crist had his podium modified with a foreign object in order to keep him more comfortable at the beginning of the Florida gubernatorial debate, causing a delay until both sides could come to a resolution. The Scott campaign eventually acquiesced to Crist's "request" that the debate rules be changed in order for Crist's comfort. The Crist campaign, for their part, maintains that they always requested a modification to the rules - but it's a modification clearly unseen and not agreed to by the Scott campaign.

Florida's race for governor may be heading deeply into the if you vote for Charlie Crist you are voting for President Obama territory. With the President deep into the barrel of public disaprroval, turning him into a surrogate candidate has been a popular ploy in House and Senate races around the country.

...Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist arrived at WSCV-Telemundo 51 in Miramar Friday for their first of three televised debates.... ....Scott criticized Crist for "sitting on his hands" and "doing nothing" while he was governor as well as making decisions based on "political expediency." When it came to Medicaid, Crist said he’d support its expansion -- a promise he has made repeatedly on the campaign trail. Scott, on the other hand, said he’d oppose such an expansion, saying the state couldn’t afford it, but vowed he was committed to helping Floridians get jobs -- a step he says...

Democrat Charlie Crist holds a sizable 53-29 percent lead over Gov. Rick Scott among Hispanic voters, according to a new poll that indicates this fastest growing segment of the electorate doesn’t like Republican positions on immigration, Medicaid and the minimum wage.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist has received $40,000 in campaign contributions from strip clubs, according to the Florida politics news website Shark Tank. Charlie Crist for Florida campaign finance reports show that two companies that operate strip clubs, SB Productions and J.W. Lee Properties., contributed a total of $40,000.

According to the latest Florida Chamber Political Institute (FCPI) poll released today at the Future of Florida Forum in Orlando, likely voters continue to have a more positive view of the future and favor Governor Rick Scott in the state’s top leadership race. Jobs and the economy (29 percent) continue to be the number one issue among voters, followed by education (19 percent) and healthcare (6 percent). “Florida voters are smart. They continue recognizing Governor Scott is doing what he said he would do,” said Marian Johnson, Senior Vice President of the Florida Chamber Political Institute. “More than 640,000 private-sector...

Republican-turned-Democrat former Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that current Republican Gov. Rick Scott “has no integrity” and his policies are driven by “the almighty dollar.” Crist made the remarks while discussing his campaign to seek his old job with his new party during an hour-long interview with Associated Press reporters that covered education, the environment and claims by Scott. The gubernatorial campaign has been one of the most negative in Florida history. …

The Florida governor’s race — on pace to be 2014’s most expensive, grueling campaign — is a dead heat with six weeks until Election Day, according to a new poll out Wednesday. Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist are neck-and-neck in the new Quinnipiac University poll. Scott is at 44 percent among likely voters, the survey shows, compared with 42 percent for Crist and 8 percent for Libertarian Adrian Wyllie. Scott has a slight edge over Crist among independents, 44 percent to 37 percent. And the gender gap tilts in his favor: He leads Crist by 8...

Hillary Clinton will headline a fundraising dinner for Florida Democratic gubernatorial Charlie Crist next month, putting her in a key presidential state in the midterms battle, according to an invitation.