Democrat Charlie Crist
After the Florida Supreme Court ordered the GOP state legislature to move several heavily Democratic St. Petersburg neighborhoods into the swingy FL-13, ex-Gov. Charlie Crist
began eyeing a campaign here. Crist lives in one of the areas that's all-but-certain to be transferred from FL-14 to FL-13 and he said on Monday that
if the new 13th includes his home, "I intend on running to serve the people again." And there's really no clever Republican map that can both pass muster with the court and keep Crist out of FL-13. The GOP used
a bridge the bay to
connect this corner of St. Pete with the safely blue FL-14, but the state Supreme Court
called them out on this in their decision.
Crist carried the old version of FL-13 50-42 during his unsuccessful campaign against Republican Gov. Rick Scott last year, and the missing chunk of south St. Petersburg voted for him 81-16, so there's no doubt that he's popular here. But Crist may not have a clear shot at the Democratic nomination. Former Obama Administration official Eric Lynn has been running here for a while and has already raised a credible $402,000, and Lynn has made it clear that he's not going to be deferring to Crist. State Rep. Dwight Dudley has also expressed interest in running regardless of what Crist does, though he did admit that the former governor's decision will effect his calculations.
Republican incumbent David Jolly announced on Monday that he was giving up this seat to run for the Senate, and the GOP isn't going to have an easy time holding it under the new map. Team Red's best candidate is almost certainly ex-St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, and he admits he is considering. This new district isn't quite unwinnable for the GOP without Baker, but Democrats definitely start out favored here.