Florida man Charlie Crist wants you to know he’s a ‘fan of fans’

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants his prospective constituents to know he’s a “fan of fans” and even brought along his own fan squad.

Crist, who is currently running a Democratic campaign for Congressional District 13 against Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly, praised all things fan in his latest campaign video. 

 
“You know I was your governor,” Crist says in the video. “But there’s some things you may not know. My hair used to be way better. I played quarterback. My dad was a doctor here for 55 years. I swim every morning. And yes, I’m a fan of fans.” 

Crist reportedly hates sweating in public, and his love affair with portable fans has a long history in Florida – there’s even a Twitter account dedicated to it. Back during the 2014 race for Florida governor, Crist and his fan went viral after Gov. Rick Scott refused to go onstage during a debate against Crist, because of a fan set up beneath his podium. 

Crist was onstage alone for about seven minutes, and at one point, asked, “Are we really going to debate a fan?” Scott joined the debate after a few minutes, but it was too late – #FanGate dominated the news and handed the world another “Florida Man” story. 

Two years later, the fan still has the last word in Florida politics. 

This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2016.