Pressured in Senate Race, Crist May Leave G.O.P.

Pressured in Senate Race, Crist May Leave G.O.P.
By JEFF ZELENY and DAMIEN CAVE
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: April 19, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/us/politics/20crist.html?th&emc=th


WASHINGTON — Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, facing pressure from fellow Republicans to abandon his Senate campaign, said Monday that he would not allow party leaders in Washington to push him from the race and declared that he was considering running for the seat as an independent.

Mr. Crist spoke after the disclosure of a memorandum to fund-raisers and party officials from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that said Mr. Crist had “zero chance” of winning the nomination in his primary fight against Marco Rubio, whose candidacy has been fueled by backing from Tea Party supporters.

The blunt message, from the committee’s top strategist, offered one of the strongest signs yet that party leaders are willing to oppose establishment office-holders in favor of challengers seeking to move the party to the right.

“It really doesn’t have any impact at all,” Mr. Crist said in a telephone interview, referring to the Republican memorandum. “What I think is right for me to do is to be guided by the people of Florida, not by people in Washington, D.C.”

The governor dismissed the criticism as an effort by party leaders to force him from the race with Mr. Rubio, possibly because they fear that he could win as an independent. With the deadline for filing as an independent candidate less than two weeks away, Mr. Crist said he continued to weigh his options.

“There is still a lot of time,” he said.

The intense exchanges between the governor and Republican leaders in Washington underscore the challenges facing Republicans as they seek to rebuild their party and capitalize on a difficult midterm election year for Democrats. If Mr. Crist were to run as an independent, the Florida race could remain a central front in the fight for the direction of the Republican Party throughout the year and complicate the party’s hopes of holding the seat.

Mr. Crist, a one-term governor who once seemed to be on an easy path to winning the nomination and, perhaps, the Senate seat in the fall, has struggled to compete with the momentum and fund-raising generated by Mr. Rubio. Mr. Crist’s candidacy has foundered, and with an April 30 filing deadline looming, Republicans have grown increasingly worried that he would drop his party affiliation and run as an independent.

Rob Jesmer, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, made the dire prediction about the health of Mr. Crist’s candidacy in the memorandum on Monday. The authenticity of the document, first reported by CNN, was confirmed by two party officials.

“We believe there is zero chance Governor Crist continues running in the Republican primary,” Mr. Jesmer wrote. “It’s our view that if Governor Crist believes he cannot win a primary then the proper course of action is he drop out of the race and wait for another day.”

While Mr. Jesmer sent the memorandum under his name, saying he was offering “a quick off-the-record assessment of where things stand” in the Florida race, the message also carried the full weight of Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the Republican Party’s senatorial re-election committee. Mr. Jesmer urged Republicans to try to persuade Mr. Crist against running as an independent.

A spokesman for Mr. Cornyn said that telephone calls to discuss the race with Mr. Crist had not been returned. The memorandum from Mr. Jesmer made clear that the party was throwing its support behind Mr. Rubio.

“We have communicated this message indirectly and would have given it to the governor directly had he returned Senator Cornyn’s phone call,” Mr. Jesmer wrote. “Whether or not you supported our endorsement of Governor Crist, we all share the same goal of keeping the seat in Republican hands. To that end, if the governor decides to run independent, regardless of any public commitments he makes regarding organization, we will support Marco Rubio in any way possible.”

He added, “If any of you have influence with Governor Crist, we hope you will call his campaign and encourage him to do the right thing.”

Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, declined to comment on the memorandum, but some Republican officials in Florida said they welcomed more involvement from Washington.

“They need to tell him this race is over,” said Bill Bunting, chairman of the Republican Party for Pasco County, north of Tampa. Saying he had been a Crist supporter since the early 1990s, he added, “I like Charlie as a friend, but this is not his time.”

Last week, Mr. Crist infuriated many Republicans by vetoing legislation that would have eliminated tenure for Florida public school teachers and tied their salaries and job security to student performance. But the decision earned him praise from teachers, a constituency that could be helpful if he runs as an independent.

On Monday, as Republicans in Washington fretted about his chances in the Senate race, Mr. Crist met with some of those teachers and visited his alma mater, St. Petersburg High School. In a telephone interview, Mr. Crist said he was unaware of the memorandum until a reporter read it to him.

Jeff Zeleny reported from Washington, and Damien Cave from Miami.