About Charlie Crist
Charlie Crist's life illustrates the American dream, beginning nearly 100 years ago when his grandfather Adam came to America from Cyprus. Nearly penniless, Adam sought a better life by first shining shoes. Later, he would own a small business, and eventually raise a family of seven children. One son became a doctor who married and raised four children in St. Petersburg, Florida. One of those four is Adam's grandson, Charlie Crist, who now serves as Florida's Governor.
Charlie Crist has never forgotten his humble roots and remains committed to the values that have made America the envy of freedom-loving people for more than two centuries. His public service is defined by tireless devotion to the citizens of Florida, a fundamental belief in the goodness of people, and a rock-solid commitment to the core principles that have allowed his family to succeed—lower taxes, less government and more freedom.
Charlie Crist was born in 1956 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, but the family soon settled in St. Petersburg, where his father is a respected family physician. Charlie learned the importance of public service from an early age, beginning with his father's tenure on the Pinellas County School Board. As a public school student Charlie quickly learned the value of participation, leading him to serve as class president at St. Petersburg High School and, later, as student body vice president at Florida State University.
His leadership qualities carried into other pursuits. He was the starting quarterback in high school and played at Wake Forest University before transferring and receiving his undergraduate degree from Florida State in 1978. Charlie then earned his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.
Crist received invaluable experience in Florida's criminal justice system while interning in the State Attorney's Office, before accepting a position as general counsel for the minor league division of the Baseball Commissioner's Office. Charlie began his government service as state director for U.S. Senator Connie Mack before later returning to the private practice of law with the Tampa firm of Wood and Crist.
The desire to serve the public remained strong. In 1992, he won a seat in the Florida Senate, where he represented the interests of citizens concerned about such issues as education, crime, the environment and elder affairs. During his six years in the Senate, Crist served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and as Chairman of the Appropriations Criminal Justice Subcommittee. A strong voice for public safety, he sponsored, among other legislation, the Stop Turning Out Prisoners (STOP) bill requiring prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentences. This achievement earned him numerous honors, including appointment as an Honorary Sheriff by the Florida Sheriffs Association—only the third person to receive the honor in the organization's long history.
After Charlie completed his Senate service, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him as Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. In 2000, he won a special election and became Florida's last elected Commissioner of Education, where he worked to implement reforms in school accountability and direct more resources into Florida classrooms.
Charlie's path of public service next led him to seek election as Attorney General in 2002 as Florida's first elected Republican Attorney General. He has been a tireless advocate for consumers, law-abiding citizens, innocent crime victims, and those who have nowhere else to turn for help. Under his leadership, the Attorney General's Office recovered millions of dollars for consumers ripped off by scam artists; prosecuted or sustained the convictions of hundreds of murderers, rapists and other criminals; crafted agreements to protect the state's environmental resources and taxpayers; and promoted effective new tools to combat domestic violence, stop child abductions, prevent Medicaid fraud and address numerous other problems.
Charlie worked with the Legislature to pass new laws that dramatically toughened the penalties for identity theft and counterfeiting or dealing in prescription drugs. He proposed and worked to pass Florida's landmark civil rights legislation, the Marvin Davies Civil Rights Act of 2003, to pursue those who engage in willful discrimination against others. He also won approval for legislation targeting those who distribute illegal spam on the Internet.
Charlie Crist now serves as Florida's 44th Governor. He vows to work as "The People's Governor" because he is working for the people of Florida—the people he calls his boss. Today, he is ready to lead Florida onward, to new opportunities and to Florida's brightest future ever.
Recent News…
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Act now on climate change lawsThe Florida Times-Union
One of the most important things Gov. Charlie Crist has done in office is put Florida at the forefront of the global warming fight.
His bold call for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 will be a challenge to achieve.
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Crist pitches health insurance plan at hospitalSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
West Palm Beach -- At the neonatal intensive care unit in St. Mary's Medical Center on Monday, Gov. Charlie Crist hesitatingly peeked inside a clear, lighted incubator.
Inside the isolette lay a day-old, 1.9-ounce baby, with limbs the size of fingers, who was born four months premature.
The unit can treat 70 babies at a time, said Joey Bulfin, the hospital's chief nursing officer. And most days, she told the governor, a majority of the patients are born to parents who either don't have insurance or lack coverage that would cover their treatment.
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Crist aims to ease health costsDaytona Beach News-Journal
TALLAHASSEE -- With families and businesses struggling to afford health care, Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida lawmakers are moving forward with proposals that would allow people to buy cheaper, stripped-down insurance.
The proposals would reduce or eliminate required types of coverage that insurers and business groups have long argued drive up the costs of health policies.
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