Could Crist and Demings help each other win in the general election

With the candidates now set for November’s governor’s race, Democrat Charlie Crist faces an uphill battle as he tries to topple Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis.

Crist says he’ll focus on abortion rights and remind voters about other controversial aspects of DeSantis’ leadership, but the big concern for Crist is money since DeSantis has hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaign.

Charlie Crist knows the fight ahead won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his confidence. “I think we’re going to beat this guy. I really do, and you know I know nobody else thinks so, but I know so,” said Crist.

Crist wants to run on his nearly 30-year political career, but to go up against Governor DeSantis, he will need more than his record.

DeSantis has a huge advantage in money, so Crist might need to partner with the Democratic nominee for Senate, Val Demings. Demings is raising money at a far better clip than incumbent Senator Marco Rubio.

“Crist and Demings actually might be able to help each other in appealing to different segments of the Democratic party that they might be generally a little weaker in,” said Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University.

Some polls show Demings either neck and neck or slightly ahead of Rubio. Wagner said if Demings and Crist blaze the campaign trail together, that could be the ticket to success for one or both of them because individually, they have another problem. There are more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats.

“I think Demings speaks to the base a bit better. Charlie Crist, being a former Republican, has a more moderate view, and some more moderate and independent voters might become out to support him,” said Wagner.

Democrats have two candidates and one goal. “I think for a lot of Democratic voters at this point, they just, they’d like to win a race,” said Wagner.

The Republicans aren’t going to just lay down and let that happen. If Demings is surging, Rubio may also need some help keeping his seat in the Senate.