CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - The campaign trail brought Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings to South Florida, as they try to unseat incumbents in the upcoming midterm elections.
7News cameras captured both candidates speaking at an event held at a church in Coral Gables, Friday night.
Crist said he was heartened by the strong turnout, as he vies to unseat current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Look, it’s Friday night, it’s Labor Day weekend. We’re in Miami-Dade County, and if this is an indication of the turnout we’re going to get, we’re going to kick his you know what,” said Crist as the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
The event came at the end of a busy day for Crist. Hours earlier, during a news conference in Miami’s Brickell section, the former congressman and Florida governor offered to bring back incentives for the film industry to shoot in Florida.
Crist argued that Gov. Ron DeSantis is leaving millions of dollars on the table for Floridians when it comes to attracting the lucrative film industry to the Sunshine State.
“We were number three in film production in the country when I was governor, and now we are not even in the top 20, and that’s disappointing,” he said.
Crist was surrounded by film industry workers as he talked about the economic stimulus that Floridians benefited from in past years with a film tax incentive.
“All these people count on this industry and a whole lot more, obviously, and we want all of them to be employed, all of them to work in Florida. Let’s bring the fun back to the Sunshine State,” he said.
Crist added that Hollywood has ditched Florida to mostly shoot in Georgia. He argues that it is money Florida is missing out on with DeSantis at the helm.
The Florida governor’s race will be a hot and contested race as Democrats try to flip the governor’s mansion.
“I mean, [DeSantis] attacks LGBTQ [people], in school, kids. He goes after African American voters,” said Crist during the Coral Gables event.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Val Demings spent Friday morning in Aventura.
“We might not agree on everything, but what we do agree on is protecting the Constitution, upholding the rule of law, because we are a nation of laws, and protecting out democracy,” she said.
Demings is attempting to unseat incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio. During her Coral Gables speech, she took time out to attack the senior senator on his stance with abortion rights.
“What he has said is that there should be no exceptions, no exceptions, even in the case of incest and sexual assault,” she said.
Rubio was also in South Florida on Friday. He met with several leaders of the Nicaraguan community in Miami.
The incumbent also met faith leaders in Davie.
“You cannot be a great nation without a strong culture. You cannot be a great nation without a strong society,” said Rubio. “You cannot be a great nation without strong parents, without strong families, and you cannot be a strong nation without a strong moral code built on the truth and on what is good.”
DeSantis had no campaign events planned on Friday.
It’s going to be a busy weekend for Crist and Demings. Crist has events scheduled in Hollywood and Pembroke Pines on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Demings is scheduled to attend events in Miami Gardens, Deerfield Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.