Attorney General Charlie Crist will file his intent to run for the Republican nomination for governor this week, sources close to Crist said Sunday.The formal announcement will come ``in the next couple of days,'' a Crist adviser told The Associated Press on Sunday on the condition of anonymity.
When asked if that meant Monday or Tuesday, the source said that would be a fair interpretation, and a second Crist strategist said ``definitely no later than Wednesday.'' A third source close to Crist also confirmed the announcement.
Crist, 48, would become the first Republican to formalize his intentions to replace Gov. Jeb Bush, who is limited to two terms. Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, 61, is also anticipated to enter the race, and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings may as well.Several polls conducted on the race in recent months show Crist and Gallagher, who was unsuccessful in bids for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1986 and 1994, running well ahead of Jennings, a former two-term president of the Florida Senate.
Both Crist and Gallagher also have tasted defeat in U.S. Senate races. Crist unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Democrat Bob Graham in 1998, while Gallagher dropped out of the 2000 Republican primary in deference to U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, who lost to Democrat Bill Nelson.
However, Crist and Gallagher rebounded quickly from their setbacks. Crist followed Gallagher as education commissioner in 2000 before winning the attorney general's race in 2002 when Gallagher was successful in his bid to become CFO.
Crist, who moved to Florida from Altoona, Pa., as a boy, was elected to the Florida Senate in 1992 and quickly earned the nickname ``Chain Gang Charlie'' for his tough approach on crime. He also chaired a committee that investigated the so-called ``scare calls'' to seniors made by some campaign staffers for Gov. Lawton Chiles in the waning hours of the 1994 gubernatorial campaign -- a strategy for which Chiles eventually apologized.
Crist's showing against the popular Graham in the 1998 U.S. Senate race cemented his credibility as a statewide candidate, paving the way for successful campaigns for separate Cabinet posts in 2000 and 2002.
He could well lock up the support of some other key elected officials.
Crist served as state chairman for Mel Martinez's successful campaign for the U.S. Senate last year, endorsed the candidacy of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez and formerly worked for popular two-term U.S. Sen. Connie Mack.
He also has the backing of Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard, who served as chief of staff for Gov. Bob Martinez in the late 1980s. Ballard's business partner and father-in-law, Jim Smith, is aligned with Gallagher.
U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa and state Sen. Rod Smith of Gainesville have already announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination for governor.
